Cell Phone Use While Driving: Mountain or Molehill?
Posted By Patrick M. Rogan on May 17, 2010 4:32am PDT
A friend and fellow NEPA personal injury lawyer recently vented online regarding his frustration with Oprah Winfrey's high-profile campaign against cell phone use while driving. He asked: They were designed as car phones, weren't they? Does the number of people hurt really warrant Oprah's response?
Another
Scranton personal injury law firm doesn't seem to think so. Shortly after reading my friend's words, I heard a radio advertisement from a large, local firm encouraging listeners to call in from their cell phones. The ad emphasized the convenience of multitasking - but is the convenience worth the risk?
The
US Department of Transportation doesn't think so. With 6,000 people killed and 500,000 injured each year by distracted drivers, increasing numbers of whom are cell phone users, the Department has launched a major campaign to educate the public about the dangers of mixing cell phones and driving and to mobilize change. One of the most interesting statistics the Department cites: Using a cell phone - even hands-free - while driving delays drivers reaction as much as their having a BAC of 0.08, for which they could be arrested for DUI in PA.
If you are injured by a distracted driver, then you need an
NEPA auto accident lawyer who takes driver
negligence seriously. At Rogan Law, we understand that, when you are the one injured because someone else's phone conversation was more important than your life, the issue of driver distraction is very important, indeed.