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Teen texting and driving at night

Cellphones Don’t Cause Accidents

Picture an example of distracted driving. You probably thought about someone texting, right? It makes sense, awareness organizations spend tens of millions of dollars per year telling us not to text and drive. We have commercials, billboards, and texting laws in almost every state.

Despite this, distracted driving fatalities haven’t budged. Nationwide, distracted driving is still as deadly as driving while intoxicated. That might be because (strange as it sounds) cellphones don’t cause accidents.

Say What?

No, really. Cellphones don’t cause accidents, and the state of Georgia agrees. A study by the Georgia Department of Public Safety found that distracted driving is only a factor in 10% of the state’s accidents. Of those, cellphones were involved in 1-in-8 distracted driving fatalities.

Put another way, a study funded by the state of Georgia suggests that cellphones are a factor in just 1% of fatal car accidents.

What’s the Real Cause?

According to additional research by a Pennsylvania insurance company, the top cause of distracted driving is daydreaming. According to the study, over 60% of people involved in fatal distracted driving accidents said they were lost in thought at the time of the crash. Cellphones made up just 12% of fatal distracted driving accidents, the same number as those found by Georgia’s Department of Public Safety.

Daydreaming while driving is extremely dangerous. Distracted drivers are far more likely to make errors such as improper merging, running stoplights, or failing to notice brake lights.

Moreover, these accidents can be deadlier than other accidents. Normally, a driver slows down before an imminent collision. However, a driver in a daydreaming trance won’t recognize the imminent crash at all before they slam into another car at full speed.

Though it seems difficult to believe, our own minds are a bigger distraction than cellphones.

If you or someone you love suffered serious injuries in a distracted driving accident, you might have a case. If you’d like an experienced Riverdale auto accident attorney from Falanga & Chalker to evaluate your case, please don’t hesitate to send us an email or call (470) 450-1164.

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