For people who believe that hands-free use of their cellphone while driving is the solution to the distracted driving epidemic in the United States, a new report from the Christian Science Monitor seems to put the lie to that contention. As reported in the Monitor, in 2015 the national car crash rate went up at the fastest rate in nearly 50 years, and hands-free smartphone use may be largely to blame.
A total of 35,092 people were killed in auto wrecks in 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports. The Monitor notes that the biggest increase in cause of wreck came in the distraction category. Those type of deadly crashes jumped 8.8 percent.
Some people might think that they are not driving while distracted if they are talking to friends or checking their email using a hands-free app, but they are missing the point, experts say.
“It’s the cognitive workload on your brain that’s the problem,” said the president of the nonprofit National Safety Council. In other words, even when you are not using your hands and eyes to use your phone, you are still taking part of your focus away from driving, raising your chances of causing serious injury on the road.
Unfortunately, it appears that many distracted drivers here in Connecticut have yet to learn that this is a dangerous habit. In some cases, they may not get the message until they severely injure someone else in a horrific wreck. If you have been the victim of a distracted driver, you have the right to seek compensation for your damages, with the help of a skilled attorney.