Accidents involving distracted drivers claimed 3,477 lives around the country in 2017 according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures, and most road safety experts expect the death toll to rise even higher in the years ahead. The alarming rise in distracted driving accidents and fatalities is generally blamed on cellphone use behind the wheel, and a study from the technology firm Everdrive suggests that one in three American drivers, including many in Pennsylvania, engage in this potentially deadly behavior every day.
The study was based on data gathered from 300,000 drivers who downloaded Everdrive’s road safety application. This has led some to suggest that the problem is even more serious than the study suggests because people who download safety applications may be less likely to engage in reckless behavior while behind the wheel. Drivers across the country spend more than three minutes each day using their cellphones according to the Everdrive data, but that figure is far higher in the Northeast and it is especially high in Pennsylvania.
The figures suggest that drivers in Pennsylvania engage in some sort of unsafe driving behavior on 49 percent of their trips, and that number rises to 51 percent in neighboring Maryland and Delaware.
Experienced personal injury attorneys may have represented clients who suffered catastrophic injuries in collisions involving distracted drivers. Drivers who fail to take evasive action before crashing are often killed in the accidents they cause, but that does not mean injured road users are unable to pursue civil remedies. In situations where the negligent individuals responsible for causing an accident are killed or face years in prison, personal injury attorneys may initiate legal proceedings against their estates or insurance companies.
