But it cannot be stressed enough: Distracted driving kills. Cell phone use while driving kills. And because of that well established fact, this little friend is probably the worst enemy you will ever have.
This message is especially important in a state such as Florida, in which a person behind the wheel cannot be pulled over and ticketed merely for driving while talking or texting on a cell phone. According to DMVFlorida.org: “Driving and talking on a cell phone is perfectly legal in Florida. But should you do it? We’ve all seen drivers with cell phones glued to their ears changing lanes too close to you, rolling through stop signs, or just not driving well at all. One of the biggest causes of accidents in Florida is distracted drivers.”
The upshot is, no one should drive and text; no one should drive and talk on a cell phone. You should not drive and do anything with a cell phone. Skilled and expert personal injury litigation attorneys in Fort Lauderdale have seen the devastation caused to families from personal injury caused by car crashes – these injuries may heal within weeks or may never heal, making it critical that people seek out an attorney’s advice directly after seeking medical attention for the injury.
But of course, we attorneys, like everyone, want to see fewer injuries on Florida’s roads, particularly in South Florida, where the convergence of congested roads and tourists always make for a volatile mix.
The National Safety Council, in a special report, acknowledges that eliminating driver distraction due to cell phone use “faces significant challenges, even beyond combating drivers’ desire to be connected and productive.” Drivers, the report states, “can help avoid this by informing frequent callers that they will not participate in phone conversations while driving.”
Easier said than done. But consider this: Taking phone calls or responding to text messages while driving all compete for attention. Unfortunately, the brain cannot multitask, and while it may appear that you are doing several things at once, your brain is still only registering one thing at a time.
“When facing multiple demands for their cognitive attention, drivers may not be aware they are missing critical visual information, and they may not be aware of the full impact of that oversight,” the NSC report states. “This lack of awareness of the distraction could prolong it.”
The NSC believes, as we do, that education is needed about the risks of all devices, tasks and distractions that occur while driving, including cell phones, whether hand-held or hands-free. And everyone must share in the responsibility, from the person making the call to the driver from the safety of their home, to the driver who feels compelled to answer it.
An equal problem are the people who are aware of the risks of distracted driving but who believe they are the only ones on the road who can handle themselves – they alone can talk on the phone while negotiating a lane change and remain concentrated on the drivers ahead of them, or can text and pay attention to the actions of other drivers at the same time. Sadly, they can’t. “Prevention strategies should consider how people behave in reality, not only how they should behave. We know from other traffic safety issues – impaired driving, safety belts, speeding – that consistent enforcement of laws is the single most important effective strategy in changing behavior,” according to the NSC. Therefore, everything put into place to combat the problem, whether that is education, policies, laws or technology – can’t just address the problem of someone holding a phone as a distraction, but must address the entire issue, including hands-free cell phone use by drivers and other distractions.
Of all the senses, sight, or vision, is the most important when you get behind the wheel. If you’re looking at a cell phone text at the same time you’re supposed to be looking at the road, one of those actions is going to win out – and it’s usually the cell phone text. So while you may understand that there are cars in front of you, you’re not really registering the actions of the other drivers.
The NSC states that drivers using cell phones “look but fail to see up to 50 percent of the information in their driving environment.” This is called inattention blindness, similar to that of tunnel vision. And it’s the most dangerous aspect of driving today, as this fact attests: Nine percent of all drivers at any given time are using cell phones. In addition, the National Safety Council estimates about one in four motor vehicle crashes involve cell phone use at the time of the crash, causing life-changing personal injuries to drivers in the Ft. Lauderdale area, and South Florida region.
It is incredibly difficult to wrench the cell phone out of people’s hands, whether they’re driving, seated in a park, or out for a walk. And the addiction of cell phone use is rampant. According to the PEW Research Center, 67 percent of smartphone owners have admitted to checking their phone for calls or messages when their phone didn’t vibrate or ring.
So what are the signs of cell phone addiction? According to PsychGuides.com, there are several, including:
Preoccupation with smartphone use.
Turning to a cell phone when experiencing unwanted feelings such as anxiety or depression.
Excessive use characterized by loss of sense of time.
Putting a relationship or job at risk due to excessive cell phone use.
Needing the newest cell phone, more applications, or increased use.
Withdrawal, when the cell phone or network is unreachable, in the form of anger, tension, depression, irritability and restlessness.
Do you feel you’re too distracted behind the wheel? Take steps to free yourself from the cell phone that is demanding too much of your time. Take a look around you and stay safer and injury free on the road.
