Drivers that Text are made Legally Culpable
Recent controversy has arisen in the state of Texas regarding the banning of hand-held electronic devices while driving. The state is one of the few in the United States that does not have a ban on texting while driving. An Austin officer whose job is car accident investigation was recently asked whether he thought a state-wide ban would reduce the number of distracted driving crashes in the state.
The city of Austin recently enacted a ban on using hand-held electronics while driving. However, the officer interviewed stated that he has never heard a driver admit that his or her cellphone use was the cause of an accident. Some say that the lack of self-admission in the aftermath of accidents caused by texting or cellphone use results in flawed research data, which is often based, in some measure, on self-reporting. Therefore, it might be difficult to determine if a state-wide ban would reduce the number of distracted driving accidents in Texas.
Research has demonstrated that texting or using a cellphone while driving is extremely dangerous and puts all motorists at risk. Republican Representative Tom Craddick has joined family members of those killed by distracted drivers to push for a state-wide prohibition of texting while driving. Relatives of fatally wounded victims recently testified in support of the ban.
Victims of Distracted Drivers can Claim Legal Compensation
Currently, approximately 40 Texas cities have taken steps to ban texting while driving. In Austin, where there were 70 distracted driving accidents in 2014, the ban has been extended to include all use of hand-held electronic devices when behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. If a person has been injured in a car accident due to another motorist’s use of a cellphone while driving or other form of negligence, he or she can file a personal injury claim in a civil court against the driver deemed at fault in the incident even if the accident occurs in a city where there is no ban on the use of cellphones while driving.
Source: The Dallas Morning News, “Is Texas right for not banning texting-while-driving statewide?“, Tom Benning, July 20, 2015
