The estimated number of text messages sent by Americans each month is a staggering 153.3 billion. For better or worse, it is an increasingly common method of communication in the country, especially among young people. However, it has certainly taken a toll as a contributing factor in distracted driving, and the number of drivers on the road at any given time who are distracted by cell phones or other electronics is about 660,000.
“For years, there has been widespread opposition to texting behind the wheel,” said Deborah Hersman, President and CEO of the National Safety Council (NSC). As of June 2015, the NSC reports that 44 U.S. States and the District of Columbia have legally banned texting while driving, and 13 states have banned all cell phone use while driving. In 38 of the states with laws against texting, drivers can be issued tickets by officers, which can range from below $75 to $250 or higher for repeat offenses.
Illinois generally prohibits texting while driving with only a few exceptions, including: reporting an emergency and/or communicating with emergency personnel; using a phone’s hands-free or voice-activated modes; or if the car is parked on the shoulder of a roadway. This ban on texting is a “primary law,” meaning an officer can pull over a driver for doing so even if it is the only apparent violation.
In 2013, 424,000 people were injured and 3,154 lost their lives in accidents involving distracted drivers. Since then, many states have begun to bring criminal charges against drivers whose texting resulted in a fatal traffic accident. In one “landmark” case, 18 year-old Aaron Deveau of Massachusetts was texting while driving and swerved across the street’s center line, hitting an oncoming truck and killing 55 year-old Donald Bowley, a father of three. Deveau was later convicted of motor vehicle homicide and received two years in prison and a fifteen-year license suspension. In another case in Wisconsin, 19 year-old Stephanie Kanoff was texting while driving and struck and killed 21 year-old Dylan Elefson, who was pulled over on the side of the road; she was later sentenced to three years in prison for homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle.
Drivers can face not only criminal charges for causing accidents while texting and driving, but civil claims, as well:
- In Fulton County, GA, a driver who was texting struck a woman’s car and her child, now-15-year-old Chasity Anderson, was thrown from her car seat. She was seven at the time of the accident and suffered a fractured left orbital bone, two temporal skull fractures, and soft tissue damage. A jury awarded her $1.5 million for her injuries.
- In Bunnell, Florida, Cacilia Carter was struck by Edward O’Guin, a driver who was texting, who ran a stop sign and caused an accident when he drove into the path of a tractor-trailer. Carter was in a coma for three weeks following the accident and left completely (and permanently) disabled due to a traumatic brain injury (TBI). She was later awarded $4.3 million in compensation.
- In Miami-Dade County, Florida, Torres (last name), a 40 year-old mother of two, was killed in an accident caused by 17 year-old Cruz Govin (last name), who was texting while weaving in and out of traffic and driving 20 – 30 miles above the speed limit. The verdict was $8.8 million for Torres’s surviving family members.
Some have proposed the idea that a person texting a driver could be held liable if the driver is then involved in an accident, though this is widely debated and without consensus. In a case in New Jersey, Kyle Best struck two individuals riding a motorcycle when his car crossed the road’s centerline; he had been responding to text messages from his girlfriend at the time. The state’s appellate court upheld a lower court’s decision to exclude Best’s girlfriend as a defendant in the lawsuit, though a majority of the panel judges also concluded: “A person sending text messages has a duty not to text someone who is driving if the texter knows, or has special reason to know, the recipient will view the text while driving.”
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident involving a distracted driver, contact America’s Consumer Lawyer for a free consultation. We are a Chicago-based injury law firm representing individuals (and their families) who have suffered an injury in an accident. We will handle your case quickly and advise you every step of the way, and we will not hesitate to go to trial for you.
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