cell phones while driving

Published on: April 30, 2024

Stronger Laws, Education and Enforcement Impact Distracted Driving Car Accident Rates

A combination of strong laws, enforcement and education campaigns is being credited for a drop in distracted driving rates in several states.

A new report by the Governors Highway Safety Association finds that distracted driving is a major driver of car accident wrongful death rates. In 2021, distracted driving caused more than 12,000 wrongful deaths in car accidents and resulted in billions of dollars worth of property damage. However, some states have been very successful in reducing their accident fatality numbers.

The Governors Highway Safety Association recently released a report titled A Roadmap for Safer Roads. The report specifically looked at various states that have seen substantial success in reducing distracted driving accident rates and the techniques that have worked for these states. The Governors Highway Safety Association report found that a combination of strong laws, enforcement, education and auto technology was most effective in helping drive down the number of people using their cell phones while driving.

Published on: February 28, 2024

Cell Phone Use Continues to Remain Top Factor in Distracted Driving Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Driving while distracted is a complex phenomenon, and there are a varied number of distractions that can affect a motorist’s ability to drive safely and avoid car accidents. However, cell phone use behind the wheel continues to remain the number one factor causing distracted driving accidents.

That information comes from a new study released by the Insurance Information Institute. The study report titled Distracted Driving: State of the Risk underscores the fact that distracted driving as a car accident factor has become even more prominent since the pandemic. According to the report, there has been a significant 20% increase in distracted driving in the United States between February 2020 and February 2022. Even that might be a much lower figure than reality as distracted driving remains widely under- reported. It is still very challenging for law enforcement officers in many states to pull over drivers who are distracted by their cell phones, and very often, these actions go undetected. The report estimates that even a 10% increase in distracted driving kills more than 420 people, and results in more than $4 billion dollars in damages every year.

The Insurance Information Institute says it has also found a significant increase in the amount of time that motorists spend on their cell phones while actually in motion. While cell phone use and texting continue to be the primary distracted driving behaviors, many motorists are also spending a lot of their time browsing the internet while driving. They are also reading and answering emails while at the wheel. Other distracting activities include taking selfies while driving.

Published on: February 26, 2024

How Passengers can Prevent Distracted Driving Car Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

If you are driving in a car with a driver who is texting at the wheel, then your chances of being involved in an auto accident increase significantly. However, there is much that you can do as a passenger to avoid car accidents caused by distracted driving.

Most motorists are aware of the dangers of texting while driving, but unfortunately, that does not necessarily prevent many of them from using their texting devices while driving. Georgia has laws that ban sending or receiving text messages while driving, but there are far too many drivers who abuse cell phone privileges behind the wheel. However, passengers may have a big role to play in helping reduce the incidence of such behaviors.

Insurance provider Erie recently consulted with a psychologist, and provided tips for passengers who see the driver of the car texting while driving. It is imperative that you speak up when you are traveling in a car and you see the driver texting while driving. Erie’s advice is that you negotiate with the driver. Tell him that if he or she really needs to be on his cell phone, you can take over his driving duties while he continues with his text messaging or cell phone conversation. This makes the driver aware that you are uncomfortable with the fact that he is texting while driving, and also gives him an alternate option that allows him to continue texting while ensuring everyone’s safety.

Published on: September 15, 2022

Broader, Strongly Worded Anti-distracted Driving Laws Can Help Prevent Auto Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

While many states like Georgia have enacted laws targeting the prevention of car accidents caused by distracted driving, some states have found more success in the use of these laws than others. A new study finds that the secret to the success of these laws lies in their nature as well as the words used to define them.

Georgia’s laws that ban the use of cell phones while driving specifically prohibit a motorist from using his or her hand to hold a cell phone or other device while driving a vehicle. A new study conducted by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety finds that laws that are specifically worded to prevent motorists from using their hands to hold a cell phone or other device might be more successful in preventing these behaviors and reducing the risk of car accidents caused by distracted driving, compared to laws that do not have such specifically designed language. The most successful laws, the study finds, are those that limit the use of hands to hold a cell phone for just the barest minimum possible interaction.

Many states have found it challenging to draft laws to reduce distracted driving. Part of the challenge has been the fact that over the past decade, cell phones have gone from being devices that people used to call people and have phone conversations with them and to send text messages, to mini personal computers. Cell phones now act as cameras and GPS systems, and most Americans use them as payment portals. Most of us check emails on cell phones rather than on computers. In an environment like this, it becomes challenging to define the kind of activities that are prohibited while using a cell phone.

Published on: March 4, 2022

Bill Would Allow Georgia Motorists to Hold Cell Phones at Stop Lights

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Under Georgia’s current laws, drivers are prohibited from holding a cell phone while driving a car. If a recently introduced bill becomes law, that could soon change.

Senate bill 356 was recently introduced in the Georgia Senate, and would allow drivers to use their hands to hold a cell phone while the car is not in motion or when the car is at a stoplight. The bill has been introduced as a way to provide an easy solution to a common dilemma facing many Georgia drivers. According to those introducing the bill, motorists often complain that they find themselves waiting at stoplights behind drivers who are looking down at their cell phones in their hands and, therefore, not aware of the change in lights. According to the bill writers, allowing motorists to use cell phones while at stop lights would encourage them to hold their cellphone up, which would also allow them to notice the change in lights, thereby preventing them from blocking motorists behind them.

The bill is already getting a lot of pushback from interested parties. At a recent hearing, lawmakers heard from physician groups, associations of police officers and other traffic safety advocates. They said that allowing motorists to use their hands to hold a cell phone while at the wheel simply increases the range of distractions and is completely unnecessary. Opponents of the bill say that allowing cell phone use of any type when a motorist is driving, regardless of whether he is at a stoplight or not, is a bad idea that immediately puts motorists in a distracted frame of mind.

Published on: April 28, 2010

National No Phone Zone Day for Drivers

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The campaign against distracted driving is coming soon to a chat show near you. On April 30, the Oprah Winfrey show will broadcast a special on distracted driving, called National No Phone Zone Day, and Atlanta will play a part in the proceedings. .

According to the Oprah show website, Oprah’s special guests on that day will be representatives from the Department Of Transportation, the Governors Highway Safety Association, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other safety agencies. Oprah will invite families of victims killed in accidents linked to cell phone use while driving. There will be live rallies in several metropolitan cities across the country, including Atlanta. These rallies will include the participation of victims’ families, safety groups, and other advocacy groups.

Viewers will be invited to join a pledge – that they will make their car a “no phone zone,” and will avoid using a cell phone while driving at all costs. Hundreds of thousands of people have already joined the pledge on the Oprah website, and more are expected to join after the show airs on April 30.

Published on: February 4, 2010

Study Shows No Link Between Cell Phone Bans and Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Study Shows no Link between Cell Phone Bans and Accidents

The results of a study last week have sent auto safety advocates, personal injury lawyers in Atlanta and elsewhere, and the auto industry into a tizzy. The study released by the Highway Loss Data Institute and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicates that there has been no significant drop in accident claims after laws banning hand held cell phone use while driving were enacted.

The study analyzed accident claims in 4 states that have banned handheld cell phone use while driving, and found no significant drop in accident claims after the bans were enacted. The study has, predictably enough, caused great consternation at the US Department of Transportation, where Secretary Ray LaHood has adopted distracted driving as his pet project.Just last week, the Department of Transportation banned text messaging while driving for commercial bus and truck drivers. Six states have bans on handheld cell phones in place, and several other states are considering similar legislation this y ear.

Published on: September 12, 2009

NTSB Bans Employees from Cell Phone Use While Driving

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

As Georgia personal injury lawyers, we have been waiting for our state to set an example in terms of stronger cell phone-and-driving laws. While neither Georgia nor any other state has stepped up to the task, the National Transportation Safety Board has moved to issue a ban on its employees using cell phones while driving.

Under the ban, NTSB employees will be forbidden from using handheld or hands-free cell phones while driving. With this, the NTSB becomes the first federal agency to have a complete ban on employees using cell phones behind the wheel. According to the NTSB chairwoman Debbie Hersman, there’s enough evidence that cell phone use while driving significantly increases the risk of auto accidents.

However across the country, laws banning cell phone use while driving, have been meager at best. Seven states and the District of Columbia ban only handheld cell phone use for motorists. In Georgia, school bus drivers are banned from using cell phones, but that’s about it. Our state’s cell phone laws are skeletal, but across the country, many of those states that have bans on handheld devices have seen mixed results from their laws. This has mainly been because in these states, the ban comes as a secondary enforcement, which makes the law harder to enforce.

Published on: July 22, 2009

NHTSA Suppressed Data Proving Cell Phone Use While Driving Raises Accident Risks

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/technology/21distracted.html?_r=1

Previously undisclosed documents that have now been made public, courtesy the Freedom of Information Act, show that federal auto safety agencies had access to thousands of pages of research that showed a clear risk of increased number of accidents because of cell phone use by motorists.In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had that information back in 2003, but chose not to make it public.

The documents have been obtained by two consumer safety groups, Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety who filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act.The documents have been published by the New York Times.

Published on: January 15, 2009

Safety Group Calls for Nationwide Cell phone Ban While Driving

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The National Safety Council is calling for a ban on all kinds of cell phone usage behind the wheel to prevent traffic accidents, but Georgia’s state authorities still don’t seem to have received the message that driving and cell phone use just don’t go well together.

Cell phone use while driving is rampant and clear to see on Atlanta’s streets, where only school bus drivers are banned from using cell phone devices while driving.Now, the National Safety Council has called for a nationwide ban on all cell phone usage behind the wheel, including hand held and hands free devices, to prevent the growing number of accidents that can be traced to drivers distracted using their cell phones.Currently, no state completely bans cell phone usage while driving, but California, New Jersey, New York, Washington, Connecticut and Utah enforce a ban on hand held cell phone usage. National Safety Council president Janet Froetscher isn’t impressed with such measures – she says that the issue isn’t whether your hands are free to drive, but that your head is engaged in the conversation you’re having on the cell pone. That is what causes accidents, and not the actual act of holding the phone.

Georgia lags behind most states in the kind of cell phone driving legislation it has in place.Representative Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) is currently working on plans for legislation that will ban cell phone use for drivers under the age of 18.According to Rep Ramsey, the under-18 age group is the most vulnerable because they are still learning the ropes of correct behavior behind the wheel, and also because distractions are a major cause for accidents involving teens. Violators would receive a first time fine of $175 and a $500 fine for additional offenses.