California Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
A new study published recently shows how cell phone use greatly increases the risk of car accidents, especially with newer drivers. According to the Los Angeles Times, one interesting note from the study was that talking on the cell phone did not prove as dangerous as other studies have shown. However, talking on the phone usually requires dialing and/or reaching for a phone, which increases the risk of an automobile accident.
This study showed that with younger drivers, the chance of a car accident or nearly missing a car accident was seven times higher when the driver is reaching for a cell phone or dialing. Surprisingly, text messaging proved to be less risky, with the chances of an accident or almost getting into an accident four times higher than when normally driving.
In the case of adults with approximately 20 years of driving experience, dialing on a cell phone increased the risk of an accident, but the effect of text messaging was not clear from this particular study.
Being in this business as long as we have, we know that distracted drivers, whatever the distraction may be, cause more Los Angeles car accidents than drivers who are paying proper attention to the road. Distracted drivers may swerve in and out of lanes, run red lights or stop signs, or rear end a car that has stopped unexpectedly in front of them. We see many rear end accidents involving drivers who are paying more attention to their cell phone than the surrounding conditions.
We wish to remind everyone not to text and drive and also be careful when using a cell phone, especially when dialing or reaching for the phone. As this study shows, nobody should be doing things that so greatly increase the chances of a car accident. If you are injured in a car accident in Los Angeles, call our office for a free consultation. If you believe the other driver was distracted, make sure to mention this information to the responding police officer and make sure to tell us, your Los Angeles personal injury lawyer, so we can obtain cell phone record information in litigation, to help prove your case.