Pasadena Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer

Distracted driving has become one of the leading causes of car accidents in many countries around the world, especially now that cell phones have become so popular. Today, a considerable number of motorists drive while texting, talking, or using a mobile app on their phones. When a driver is distracted, their chances of causing an accident increase considerably as their focus is on their phone instead of being on other vehicles and traffic signals.

Right now, the demand for texting accident lawyer services in Pasadena is quite high against people who have caused an accident due to using their phones while driving. Like in many other states, Texas has now put into place measures that discourage the use of mobile phones while driving with the intent of preventing accidents and accident-related injuries if another road user has caused property damage or led to you being injured due to texting while driving, reach out to our Pasadena car crash attorneys at Gomel & Associates for legal assistance and advice.

How Can Gomel & Associates Attorneys Be of Help to You?

Driving-while-texting-related accidents contribute to nearly a quarter of all car accidents recorded today. As such, it is safe to say that the issue has become a modern-day epidemic. Using a phone while driving not only affects a driver’s concentration, it also slows down the reaction speed or time by about 20 percent. It is worth noting that most distracted driving accidents tend to have severe consequences and often cause life-threatening injuries. Victims of driving while texting accidents generally have a hard time coping with the severity of their injuries, which often lead to long-term disabilities. At the same time, most of them face financial hardships due to lost wages, continuous care, and medical bills.

If you or someone you know have suffered injuries due to the negligent actions of a distracted driver, reach out to our attorneys at Gomel & Associates for assistance today. By doing so early enough, you give yourself enough time to create a compelling and effective avenue for seeking the compensation that you deserve. Our professional and highly-skilled attorneys in Pasadena have the resources and experience to investing your accident and collect all the required documents, which often include cellphone records to prove your case. Our attorneys will advise you on the options you have and the steps you should consider taking.

Texting and Driving Statistics on a National Level

It’s been proven that driving while distracted is one of the leading causes of car crashes in America. While many things can distract a driver while driving, one that’s proven to be a problem is texting or talking on the phone while behind the wheel. Distracted driving often leads to severe injuries that can sometimes cause permanent disabilities or even lead to death.

The NHTSA provides an easy-to-understand and accurate analogy of some of the dangers of texting while driving presents.

‘Talking on the phone, texting, or reading a text involves all (manual, cognitive, and visual) distractions at once.’ Sending a text or reading one means that the driver has to take their eyes off the road for about 4.5 seconds. Doing so at a speed of 55mph is like driving the entire length of a football pitch blindfolded.

It has also been proven that almost 20 percent of all car accidents that happen every year can be avoided if drivers paid more attention to the road and avoided using their phones while behind the wheel. This statistic is quite shocking, especially considering that it’s illegal to use a phone to text or call while driving in all American states. Texting or using a phone while driving is actually considered an act of negligence should it result in a car accident.

Is It Bad To Text While Driving?

Thirty-four states today have regulations and laws that discourage people from texting while driving. Of these, 31 consider it an infringement of the law. It is so serious that law enforcers in these states now have the right to pull you over for being using a phone while behind the wheel. Sadly, people are still doing it. According to a document released by the NHTSA in 2011, the number of motorists who text or use their phones while driving had increased from .6 percent in 2009 to .9 percent in 2010.

For instance, in New York, a state where texting or phone use while driving became a major offense in July 2011, the Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) had issued over 4,600 tickets for the same crime by mid-September.

How Dangerous is it to Text While Driving?

Well, it is very dangerous. According to the NHTSA document, the chances of being involved in an accident due to using your phone to text while driving increases by 2,300 percent. The research also showed that over 500,000 people get injured, and about 6,000 people lose their lives every year due to distracted driving. A majority of these deaths involve truck-related crashes. It’s common knowledge that truck-related crashes are more likely to have fatalities due to the size factor. According to the report, distracted truck drivers are 23:2 times more likely to cause an accident when using their phone than drivers who pay attention to the road as they see hazards much faster.

The dangers of driving while distracted are so real that technology developers are now coming up with ways to fight the menace. An excellent example of this is a new phone application called Text Zapper. The app is designed to disable a phone, making it impossible to receive or send a text message while in a vehicle that’s in motion. The app uses Trakker GPS technology, which tracks the position of the car and how fast it is traveling. Well, for such an app to work, the driver needs to download it first.

The Use of Cellphones Amongst Young Drivers

According to worrying statistics, the majority of motorists who text or use their phones while driving are young drivers aged between 16 and 25 years. Research conducted by the Pew Research Foundations shows that a large number of drivers aged between 16 and 17 agree that they talk on the phone or text while driving. By normal standards, drivers aged between 16 and 25 are quite ‘inexperienced’ and are, therefore, at a higher risk of causing an accident. When you combine inexperience with distraction, the two become a recipe for disaster. At the same time, research suggests that teenage passengers of a driver who’s texting while driving will likely not speak up.

Texting While Driving Laws in Texas

In 2017, the state of Texas passed a law that discourages texting while driving. While the law was passed a while back, drivers in Texas are still liable for negligence due to distracted driving. It doesn’t matter if the driver was issued a criminal or traffic citation at the accident scene, as long as they were using their phone while driving, they’re still at fault.

As such, drivers can be taken to court for damages if they got into an accident due to distracted driving. If you need help with your case, contact Gomel & Associates and talk to one of our attorneys.

How Does Using A Phone Affect Your Driving?

While it’s common knowledge that texting while behind the wheel is dangerous, it’s always a good thing to remind people of why it’s distracting and dangerous. Texting while operating a vehicle is hazardous in three ways:

Manual

As a driver, when one of your hands is busy on your phone, it becomes harder for you to steer the wheel in case of an emergency. It is generally not safe for you to drive with one hand on the wheel and the other on your phone or knees.

Visual

Keeping your eyes on the road, and focusing on what’s ahead of you is essential. When your eyes are constantly on your phone, it becomes harder for you to focus and also reduces your reaction time.

Cognitive

If your focus is on reading a text or replying to one, your chances of getting into an accident increase drastically.

Instead of putting your life and that of others at risk, it’s much safer and more reasonable to wait until you get home or pull over to read or send a text message. Sadly, thousands of texting while driving-related car accidents reported each year. If you’ve been involved in a car crash that’s caused by distracted driving, having a Pasadena-based car crash attorney by your side can be very beneficial.

Proving the Other Party Was Driving While Distracted

Honestly, it can be very challenging to obtain evidence that proves the other party was distracted, especially if there is no video evidence. While you can rely on eyewitnesses to testify that they saw the driver texting while driving, it is often hard to find people who witnessed the happenings. So, what do you do if there aren’t any witnesses? Thankfully, with advances in technology, you don’t need to have eyewitnesses. A car accident attorney in Pasadena can subpoena the other party’s phone records and use this information to determine if they were using their phone at the time the accident occurred.

With such evidence, it becomes easier for jurors to take the side of the victim, especially if you were not texting and driving. As such, if there’s evidence showing that the other party was distracted driving, then your chances of being compensated will certainly be high.

Contact A Pasadena Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer

If you’ve been involved in an accident caused by a distracted driver, give the Pasadena car accident attorneys at Gomel & Associates a call for assistance. Our injury accident firm employs professionals with experience handling texting while driving cases. As people who’ve handled such cases in the past, we know what kind of evidence that is needed to prove your case and determine how much in compensation you should seek. For help with your case, give us a call by dialing 713-529-7848 for a no-obligation, free-of-charge consultation.