Straight Talk Law: Seattle, Washington Personal Injury Lawyer Jason Epstein on “Texting and Driving: It’s Not Just Teens”

As the founder of the Teens Against Distracted Driving movement (you can find out more about it at www.teensagainstdistracteddriving.com), I’ve long known that younger drivers regularly court danger by texting and driving. It makes sense, as this is the generation that grew up with cell phone technology – it’s as natural to them as breathing.

Recent research suggests, however, that their parents are just as guilty as their children might be of this type of distracted driving – a practice responsible for many motorcycle and car accidents that lead to personal injury and wrongful death.

A study released by the nonpartisan “think tank,” The Pew Research Center, on June 18th of this year surprised many by revealing that adults are just as guilty as teens of texting while driving – and substantially more likely to talk on the cell phone behind the wheel, which has been proven to be just as dangerous.

Here are a few interesting points from this groundbreaking survey:

• 27% of all American adults admit to sending or reading text messages while driving. That compares with 26% of all American teens who have admitted to texting while behind the wheel.

• 75% of all adults with cell phones say they have talked on a cell phone while driving. Only 52% of cell-owning teens reported talking on a cell phone while driving.

• 44% of all adults say they have been passengers in a car when the driver used the cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger. About the same number of teens also said they had been in that situation.

Now, apparently, we also face a danger that goes beyond distracted driving – distracted walking, believe it or not. 17% of all adults with cell phones admit, while traveling on their own two legs, that they have had physical collisions with another person or an object – because they were distracted by talking or texting on their phone.

If nothing else, this certainly proves just how effectively a cell phone can cause you to block out everything else around you!

What’s clear is that dangerous cell phone use is no longer primarily an under-21 problem. We’ve all become addicted to using our portable devices not only for texting and talking, but also for checking email, web-surfing and so forth.

Keeping in mind that many people can’t even walk safely when engaged in these activities, drivers should redouble their efforts to drive distraction-free – and passengers in vehicles where the drivers are engaging in dangerous behavior that could lead to a car accident should feel free to ask that they stop – for everyone’s safety.

For more free “Straight Talk Law” information, please visit my website at www.straighttalklaw.com, where you can order free books on personal injury lawyers, Washington auto accidents, auto insurance, and other valuable legal information, offered as a public service by myself and my law practice in Seattle, Washington.