Distracted Driving Accidents Lawyers Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Clients Injured by Distracted Drivers Can Get Justice Hiring Qualified Motor Vehicle Accident Lawyers in Pennsylvania
Every year, thousands upon thousands of people are injured or killed in motor vehicle accidents, and distractions that keep PA drivers’ eyes off the road are one of the biggest killers. When someone isn’t looking at the road, they cannot react to sudden traffic signal changes, pedestrians, foreign objects, animals, or other drivers stopping or changing lanes suddenly.
There are so many distractions on the road from cell phones to joggers that cause a staying eye and have catastrophic consequences. If you have been injured due to an irresponsible PA driver who wasn’t paying attention, our lawyers at Marrone Law Firm, LLC can help you file a claim and get compensation from a distract, liable party.
Contact the Marrone Law Firm, LLC in Philadelphia today for legal advisement on your distracted driving injury case!
Most Common Causes of Distraction for Drivers in Philadelphia, PA
On the road, there are endless outside sources that can catch a driver’s eye and take it off the road. Animals, objects, smoke in the distance, car accidents on the side of the road, flashing lights from smart phones, and the list goes on. There are, however, more common distractions that one should try to avoid as much as possible.
These distractions include:
- Being Lost in Thought
- Cell Phone Usage
- Staring at Outside Sources
- Attention Demanding Occupants
- Eating or Drinking
- Adjusting a Variety of Operation and Comfort Controls
Most distracted driving can be categorized and each type of distraction results in different parts of a driver being affected such as eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, head pointing straight ahead, etc.
The three types of distracted driving include:
- Manual Distraction – moving hands away from the wheel, stick, or other important operational features that allow you to maintain safe driving behavior
- Visual Distraction – anything in your line of vision that takes your eyes away from the road
- Cognitive Distraction – attention is focused elsewhere, distracting thoughts, talkative passengers, staring at self in the mirror, etc.
Smartphones Result in Statistical Spike in the Number of Motor Vehicle Accidents in Pennsylvania
Of all the distracted driving culprits out there, the most common one of our newer generations is the use of smartphones. There is a slowly growing crisis going on involving smartphone usage and distracted driving motor vehicle accidents. In fact, people are 23x more likely to get into an accident when using their cell. There are so many features on a phone to distract a driver including GPS, text, phone calls, email, video and camera options, using it as a mirror, selecting music, social apps, and so much more. Constant pinging of notifications and how much people are glued to their screens is raising the death toll.
The amount of people distracted in this manner is in the hundreds of thousands and climbing all the time It was discovered that at any given moment in time, over 660,000 people are using a smartphone while behind the wheel. In just 5 seconds at 55 MPH (which is well under what people usually go on a highway), a car can travel the full length of a football field. A lot can happen in those five seconds that can lead to catastrophic accidents.
There are now very serious consequences for being caught using a phone while driving to help with this epidemic. Handheld cell phones are now banned for all drivers across the country.
Penalties for cellphone category distracted driving are as follows:
- First offense involves a $200 to $400 fine.
- Second offense (committed within 10 years of first) – $400 to $600 fine.
- Third or subsequent offenses (committed within 10 years of first) – $600 to $800 fine plus possibility one’s driver’s license can be suspended for up to three months
The Difference Between a Distracted Driving Accident and a Drunk Driving Accident
When it comes to trying to understand how serious distracted driving is, we can compare it to that of drunk driving accidents, which is by far the most common factor in accidents on the road. In 2015, drunk driving was responsible for a little over 10,000 deaths and about 290,000 injuries across the United States.
For distracted driving, although deaths were lower at about 3,500, injuries were substantially higher at nearly 400,000. The fact that distracted driving is outdoing drunk driving incidents for injuring Americans can show how common and risky it is.
Seriously Injured Victims of Distracted Drivers in Philadelphia Can Contact the Marrone Law Firm for a Free Initial Consultation
Distracted driving accidents and injuries are a common occurrence in the Philadelphia, PA area. Cities have a lot going on that can distract a driver even more such as construction, events, pedestrians and jaywalkers, etc. Accidents are not easy to simply bring off to the side of a highway in the middle of a city.
Distracted driving also has resulted in thousands of injuries and resulted in the suffering of many PA citizens. The lawyers at Marrone Law Firm have been working with these types of cases for many years and can be ready for you when you need legal help. We provide free consultations to assess your case and see what kind of compensation we can get for you. Contact us here or call us at our Philadelphia, PA office at 215-709-7360.