Distracted Driving Accident

While the Florida Legislature can’t seem to make up its mind about the dangers of texting and driving, two juniors from Spanish River High School in Boca Raton have decided to step up and become the adults in the room.

“National Day of Awareness to Not Text and Drive” started as a school leadership project organized by two Boca Raton teens to emphasize the dangers of texting and driving to their peers on the high school grounds. What started as a high school assignment has expanded to become a grass roots movement and a full-blown music festival on the Florida Atlantic University campus.

The Rock2Live Music Festival scheduled for April 28 will feature music acts, celebrity endorsements, and driving simulators all in the hope of making teens more aware of the dangers of texting and driving. The two youthful organizers have also contacted schools from across the nation to participate via a live simulcast of the festival. All participants will receive a free cellphone app that prevents texting or receiving texts while a car is moving.

One of the students who created the event stated that the motivation for establishing the campaign was partly rooted in both of their personal driving experiences. “We both got our licenses recently and have both had close calls,” he said. “We see so many people not paying attention.”

Distracted driving was responsible for 3,000 crashes among 15- to19-year olds in Florida last year and the student/creator hopes that the teen-centered awareness campaign will help bring those numbers down.

“This problem is getting worse, no matter who you talk to, all over the world,” he told the Sun Sentinel.

Personal injury attorney Eddie Farah applauds the initiative these two young men have taken to raise teen awareness of the dangers of distracted driving on Florida’s roads and highways. If you need more information concerning the Rock2Live Music Festival, you can go to Rock2LiveFest.com.

Each April, Focus Driven, along with The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other partners, increases its efforts to make Americans aware of the dangers of distracted driving. The aim of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month is to try to save lives and prevent injuries by changing the roadway safety culture in the United States.

Although the current emphasis is on cell phone use and texting while driving, the NHTSA points out that these aren’t the only distracted driving culprits. Any activity that distracts a motorist while driving — changing a radio station, talking to a passenger, eating — is considered distracted driving and is potentially dangerous to both drivers and passengers.

In 2009, 5,474 people were killed and an estimated 448,000 were injured due to distracted driving. Of those distraction-related crashes, cell phone use could be directly attributed to 995 fatalities and could be blamed for 24,000 injuries.

Studies have shown that even “hands-free” cell phones do not eliminate cognitive distraction and that cognitively distracted drivers can miss up to 50 percent of their driving environment — an environment that includes things like stop signs and pedestrians.

The sponsors of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month emphasize there are several steps individuals can take to prevent cell-phone related crashes. They include: parking before taking a call or dialing your cell phone; turning your phone on “silent”; putting your phone in the trunk or glove box; or telling a driver you are uncomfortable with them using a cell phone while they are driving.

The Jacksonville distracted driving attorneys at Farah & Farah support the important work being done to prevent injuries and deaths on Florida’s roads and highways due to distracted driving. Florida still has no law restricting cell phone usage while driving.

If you have been injured in an accident due to a distracted driver, please feel free to call us at (800) 533-3555 to discuss your legal options.

By Eddie Farah

As a Florida personal injury attorney, Eddie Farah thoroughly understands the dangers of distracted driving and how serious the consequences can be for not only the distracted driver, but also innocent motorists on the road as well. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an alarming 16 percent of fatal crashes and 20 percent of injury crashes involved distracted driving in 2009. In addition, close to 500,000 were injured in distracted driving-related accidents the same year, with more than 5,000 fatalities.

To combat the growing problem of distracted driving, some feel technology can be an excellent way to prevent drivers from engaging in this risky behavior. With this in mind, the Discovery Channel has assembled a list of the top five distracted driving prevention technologies. However, it’s important to note that even with these technologies, distracted driving is not erased since a person who may utilize these technologies still may not be giving their full attention to the road while driving.

• Hands-free devices: Most cell phones come with a wired earbud to allow users to chat wirelessly, but Bluetooth headsets may be a better solution as drivers can also make and answer calls hands-free and with the push of a button.
• Voice-recognition technology: This type of technology lets users send text messages, e-mails, get directions, make and receive calls, and a lot more, with just your voice (finger lifting not required). One example is Sensory’s Truly Handsfree.
• Cell phone lockdown: Certain smartphone applications, such as CellSafety and iZup, utilize GPS to block different functionalities (like texting or internet surfing) when a driver is going faster than a certain speed. The drawback is some allow a driver to still make and receive calls, and also some require a monthly fee.
• Safety features for auto DVD players and GPS systems: Built-in GPS systems have a safety feature which will prevent drivers from keying anything in while the vehicle is moving. Similarly, built-in auto DVD players disable driver-viewable screens while the vehicle is in motion.
• Self-driving cars: Google is testing new cars that drive themselves using robotics and artificial intelligence.

As distracted driving is an increasing problem amongst motorists, the likelihood of being involved in a distraction-related accident is unfortunately very high. If you have been injured in an accident caused by another’s negligence, Florida distracted driving accident attorney Eddie Farah and the legal team of Farah & Farah may be able to help you obtain compensation from negligent parties for your injuries. Call (800) 533-3555 today for a consultation.

By Eddie Farah

If it is up to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) you won’t be tweeting, retweeting, or playing Farmville on Facebook while you’re in your car — at least not when it’s in motion. In a move designed to limit what the USDOT sees as the growing problem of distracted driving in Florida and throughout the nation, it has released non-binding guidelines that call for automakers to design certain in-car devices that would only work when the car is in park. The USDOT is targeting devices that allow manual texting, access to the Internet, 10-digit phone dialing, and the like.

“DOT is on the right path,” Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association wrote to Bloomberg.com in an email.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA), in 2010, 3,092 people lost their lives because of distracted driving. And those numbers could easily increase. One automotive data provider is predicting that the number of smartphone and embedded-connectivity devices installed into new cars and light trucks will increase by 29 percent this year – and they will be fitted into all new cars by the year 2026.

Electronic warning devices like lane-departure and collision alert systems would not be affected by the guidelines. David Strickland, head of the NHTSA, said the idea isn’t to ban in-car communication systems entirely, just to simplify them and to reduce their use while driving.

The law firm of Farah and Farah is all for making Florida’s roads and highways safe from distracted drivers. If you have been injured in an accident because of a distracted driver, our Florida car accident lawyers are ready to take your call at (800) 533-3555. The call is free and confidential.

By Eddie Farah

‘OMG’ is the name of a campaign by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) targeted towards teens who drive distracted. This DOT distracted driving Public Service Announcement (PSA) will be shown to moviegoers at Regal Cinema screens and on the screen at the gas stations owned by Outcast Pump Top TV throughout December.

The PSA is taking the unusual step of airing in unconventional places so that teens will notice. It uses texting shorthand that teens are familiar with such as “L8R” or “LOL” for “later” and “laugh out loud”. The PSA will be shown at about 6,589 movie screens around the country in 526 Regal Cinemas. At the gas station, a slightly more conservative version of the PSA will run which ends with “One Text or Call Could Wreck it All!”

Distracted Driving in Florida

A Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll from November finds most adults admit to some sort of distracting behaviors while driving, whether it be eating/drinking (86 percent), using a hands-free cell phone (59 percent), setting a GPS (41 percent), texting (37 percent), or applying makeup (14 percent).

Other drivers polled said they have driven after two or more drinks or while sleepy.

Florida remains one of the states that steadfastly refuses to enact any ban on texting or cell phone use behind the wheel for any driver. Most parents disagree with this stand, but our lawmakers seem to be unable to pass the needed legislation every year when the many bills proposed would do just that.

According to the Department of Transportation, nearly 5,500 people were killed on U.S. roads in 2009 and 450,000 were injured in distracted driving crashes. The DOT calls to enact tougher laws have fallen on deaf ears in Florida.

Farah & Farah reminds everyone that no cell phone call is important enough to lose your life or be injured in a crash. In a matter of seconds, life can change for the worse. The auto accident attorneys in Florida of Farah & Farah see everyday how people are coping after an accident where distracted driving was a factor. Call us at 1(800) 533-3555 so we can start the conversation on how to help you following an auto collision.

Source: http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2011/U.S.+Department+of+Transportation+Unveils+%27OMG%27+PSA+to+Warn+Teens+About+the+Dangers+of+Distracted+Driving; http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2011/11/30/most-us-drivers-engage-in-distracting-behaviors-poll

These are a heartbreaking series of videos put out by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) which puts a face on what can happen as a result of distracted driving. In the latest video, nine-year-old Erica Forney was on her bicycle outside of her home in Fort Collins, Colorado when a driver looked down at her cell phone and failed to see Erica. Her mother, Shelly, says the little girl was thrown 15 feet and landed on her neck. On Thanksgiving Day in 2008, two days after she was hit, Erica died.

Her mother says distracted driving wasn’t “worth my daughter’s life. If you choose to text or take a phone call behind the wheel, you’re playing Russian roulette with your life and other people’s lives on the road.”

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has been passionate about this very powerful campaign against distracted driving.

Dashboard Distractions

At the same time, auto manufacturers seem to be adding even more distractions to the dashboard of a vehicle creating a visual display that is difficult to resist. Can you believe you can not only find a nearby restaurant on some dashboards, but update your Facebook status, check the weather and gas prices, as well as read text messages? A new Toyota reportedly will allow you to search the web, and some Ford vehicles will even deliver Twitter updates.

It is estimated that more than 5,000 people were killed by a distracted driver in 2009, and 500,000 were injured in accidents where the driver was distracted by a cell phone, changing the radio, fooling with the GPS, or any other number of distractions that can be found in a vehicle these days.

It takes a concerted effort to remain undistracted and drive. The Florida distracted driving accident lawyers of Farah & Farah encourages everyone to have the self-discipline to put away the phone while you are behind the wheel and involved in the serious business of driving.

Source: www.distraction.gov/faces;www.distraction.gov;http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/money/consumer/consumer_reports/consumer-reports-examines-dashboard-distractions#ixzz1b68nFYhQ

The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) has issued a new report that finds texting while driving is far more dangerous than anyone thought. The study monitored 42 drivers who were supposed to be focused on an 11-mile test track. During the drive, a yellow light flashed on and the drivers’ response was monitored. When the light went on, those simply driving had a slow reaction but among the texting group, the reaction time doubled to four seconds before the driver looked up from their cell phone. It did not matter whether he or she was reading a message or writing one.

What’s most frightening is that those texting drivers were 11 times more likely not to see the flashing light at all. In terms of distance, 60 mph at two seconds adds another 176 feet within which a driver must stop to avert something in front of him. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood puts it another way: you can travel an entire football field while texting for a few seconds at 55 mph.

Once again, Florida is slow to respond to this frightening trend. While 34 states have some sort of ban on texting while driving, Florida has none. Although the exact number is not known, distracted driving is thought to have been responsible for 5,474 deaths behind the wheel in 2009, or about one quarter of all accidents.

In the meantime, automakers keep putting more gadgets on the dashboard that also encourage a driver to be distracted by radio selection, temperature control, and GPS readings. Bottom Line: the Jacksonville distracted driving accident lawyers at Farah & Farah recommends you put away the phone when you drive. There is absolutely no message so important that it requires you sending or reading a text message while driving.

Source:http://www.fairwarning.org/2011/10/texting-while-driving-even-worse-than-previously-thought-study-finds/; http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/texas-texting-study-finds-driver-reaction-times-slower-than-previously-thought/2011/10/05/gIQA4upSNL_story.html