Distracted driving is a major problem in the United States – but distractions come in all shapes and sizes, so why do cellular phones take most of the blame?
Cell phone use is banned behind the wheel in one way or another in most states, including New Jersey. There’s good reason for the focus on cellphones, because they are actually a “triple” threat when it comes to diverting a driver’s focus.
Distractions come in three forms – and cellphones involve all three
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), distracted driving can be:
- Visual, or something that causes a driver to glance away from the road
- Manual, or something that causes a driver to take one or both hands off the wheel
- Cognitive, or something that causes a driver’s mind to be preoccupied
Cellphone use involves all three kinds of distractions at once. Unless the driver uses voice-to-text technology, they need to look at their phone to dial or text, take one hand off the wheel to hold the phone while they do it and think about what they’re saying or writing as the communicate.
Distracted driving has been a problem since vehicles were invented, largely because people are inherently inclined to believe that they can divide their attention between multiple tasks – but multitasking is a myth. It’s no coincidence that incidents of distracted driving started increasing right around the same time that cellphones became commonplace.
If you’re in a wreck and suspect that the other driver was distracted by their phone, make sure to address the issue when you seek legal guidance. It may be possible to obtain evidence that proves you were right – and that can make establishing liability for the wreck much easier.