Transportation Secretary Says Driving While Texting Kills

Ray LaHood, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, recently wrote a guest column in the Atlanta Journal Constitution detailing the terrifying statistics on texting while driving.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 6,000 people died last year in crashes involving a distracted driver.  Yet, two-thirds of drivers surveyed admitted they talk or text while driving.  21 percent admitted to actually reading email while driving.  John Lee of the Center for Human Performance and Risk Analysis says texting is the "perfect storm" of driver distraction because drivers take their hands off the wheel, their eyes off the road and their minds of the task of driving.  In fact, President Obama quickly banned texting while driving by federal employees on official business.  Secretary LaHood reminds us all to thank those important to us for keeping their phones in their pockets and their attention on the road.  

Many of the cases that Kaufman Law handles result from distracted defendant drivers. We have observed that injuries and death caused by rear end collisions and lane violations have increased greatly. In addition to greater numbers of wrecks resulting from texting while driving we are seeing substantially more serious injuries and deaths occur much more often.  These type of wrecks often result in rear end collisions from a vehicle travelling at expressway speeds hitting vehicles that are stopped in traffic. When these wrecks involve distracted semi tractor trailer drivers the consequence is almost always catastrophic injury or death. Juries often are enraged that a careless texter could cause injury sufficient to change a victim's life in moments.  It often further inflames them when Insurance Defense Lawyers distract them from the business of applying justice.  If our jury awards and settlements are small then the taxpayer eventually ends up paying for the expensive needs of an person injured by a distracted driver's use of a cell phone. If you know someone injured by a distracted driver call Kaufman Law,PC at 888-973-2540 (888-WRECK-404) 24 hours a day for help.