Drivers who use a cell phone have four times the chances of being involved in an auto accident, according to a report released in December by the AAA Foundation for Automobile Traffic Safety. Despite this, just five states and the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.) currently prohibit the use of cell phones by drivers, according to the Wichita Eagle.
Kansas State Senator Les Donovan hopes that his state will become number six. After seeing his fellow Kansans, including 60-year old Terry Higginbotham and his wife Jeanie Larson, die in needless car accidents due to cell phone usage, Donovan is hoping that is sooner rather than later.
The wrongful death attorneys at our firm support Donovan’s efforts to create few distracted drivers out on the road who cannot help but look at their cell phones when they are behind the wheel. How much pain and suffering has to occur before motorists get it in their head that the road, not their phone, is what’s important?
Donovan has chaired his Senate’s Transportation Committee for the past eight years, says that his state is usually behind the rest of the country when it comes to passing traffic safety laws, largely due to rural residents’ dislike of government regulation.
Just last year, the Kansas Senate passed a proposed law that would have restricted cell phone use by young drivers. However, the proposed law was short lived when it failed to gain approval from the State House of Representatives. Certainly not a good sign for progress on road safety laws in the state.
“Frankly, I can’t tell you that I think it’s going to happen soon,” Donovan said.
The report also mentioned other studies that have shown cell phone usage does not necessarily decline as the result of cell phone laws. So it is possible that enforcement of the law — and not the law itself — is the real obstacle between the goal of eliminating this unsafe automobile driving practice. Even with some states restricting cell phone use by drivers, the overall car accident numbers are still not low enough for the people involved in these particular car accidents.
“There definitely needs to be something done about it,” said Ron Stranghoner, the driver in the car with Higginbotham and Larson. “We’ll never recover from this.”
The wrongful death attorneys at our firm advise against driving while using your cell phone regardless of your particular state’s laws. They find it irresponsible that a state would endanger its citizens out of dislike of government regulation. It is hard to believe that barbaric political beliefs interfere with public safety on the road.
Above all else, safety on the road is number one. After all, you can dial someone’s number and talk to them from a parked car. Is it not better than yet another needless auto accident? Many think that cellphone distractions are just as dangerous at drinking and driving (DUI), but if DUI accidents are preventable, shouldn’t cellphone based ones be too?
If you were injured and believe that you deserve compensation, then call our bilingual law offices right away at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney and find out how we can help you. We look forward to providing good advice for your case. There is no fee if no recovery.
About Michael PinesMichael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.
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Tags: car accident increase, cell phone, texting
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