Keeping the Gadgets Away While Driving

You’ve seen them on the byways and highways, drivers of all ages, their eyes glossy as they look down to the object in their hand or mounted on their dash. They think they’re only looking away for a second, and that it doesn’t matter. The fact is, seconds, fractions of a second matter when piloting an automobile. Driving is a task that should demand one’s entire attention, making sure to avoid potential hazards as well as avoiding becoming a hazard to other drivers as well. Technology can be so distracting, but drivers need to have the willpower to put off their interactivity so that they can remain safely engaged and interactive with the pressing, dangerous responsibility they’ve taken on, driving an automobile.

Many states and municipalities have passed or are considering laws discouraging drivers of automobiles from using their interactive technologies while driving their automobiles. Accident reports tell a startling tale of teenagers texting while driving and business men and women distractingly taking blind turns hitting pedestrians, bicyclists, and others while enthralled in “important” conversations. In fact, so many accidents could be avoided if drivers could just wait until their destinations or pull over and disengage themselves from driving until their attention is available. In many states, laws encourage police officers to pull over drivers on cellular telephones if they are driving erratically, assigning them an extra ticket for telephone use as well as an erratic driving offense. Few municipalities are allowing officers to pull drivers over simply for cellular use alone, though this is being considered as well to deter offenders. These laws are designed to encourage hands-free use of cellular technology, when necessary, though it should be advocated that no interactive technology should be used when driving, period. Even with new advances in hands-free technologies, a distraction is a distraction, especially when the safety of others who are not making the choice to be distracted is involved.

Complete attention should be afforded the important task of driving as the consequences involved are enormous and far-reaching. Though you can control your own actions and distractions as a driver, you can never control, assume, or predict those of others who share the road with you. It is necessary to be watchful, assessing all situations, immediately as they arise. Accidents do occur, of course , no matter how vigilant you might be. In the event of an accident, it is necessary to contact a personal injury attorney who will work to protect your rights. Don’t let a distracted driver put you or your family at undue risk and then leave you to deal with the aftermath.

Lloyd Robles heads Robles & Associates, an Austin, Texas based firm, specializing in personal injury law.