On January 23, 2019, 65-year-old Yong Do Kim was crossing the street in a marked crosswalk on 6th Street near Westlake’s MacArthur Park when he was struck and killed by a vehicle. The collision’s impact threw his body 30 to 40 feet. Police confirmed that the driver – Rosario Valdezinda, 38, of Los Angeles – was checking text messages on her phone while driving 30 to 40 mph. She was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.
Texting while driving is as dangerous as drunk driving. In fact, it causes nearly five times as many accidents as drunk driving. Someone texting while driving has a delayed reaction time equal to that of an intoxicated driver with a .08 blood alcohol level. Studies suggest a driver is nearly 25 times more likely to be in an accident if they’re texting while driving.
When a driver’s eyes are focused on their phone instead of the road, they’re distracted.
Three Types of Distracted Driving
VISUAL
This is any distraction that takes your eyes off the road. Some may feel a text message is harmless because it only takes your eyes off the road for a few seconds. You can multi-task.
But a car traveling down the road at 70 mph can clear about 103 feet per second. Even if you’re of the mindset of, “I’m just going to send a quick reply and then put my phone away,” just a five-second text message can cover the distance of two football fields. Now think of the damage you’d do if you drove down the length of two football fields blindfolded.
MECHANICAL
This is any distraction that momentarily takes your hands off the wheel. Keeping two hands on the wheel is the only way you can truly be ready for an unexpected occurrence. Having two hands on the wheel at all times enables you to swerve, turn, or change lane positions to avoid a collision or hitting an object, pedestrian, or animal. You’re putting yourself and others around you at risk anytime you take one or both hands off the wheel.
COGNITVE
This is any distraction that takes your focus off the road. When sending or receiving texts, the brain is more focused on the message being typed or read than your driving and the road in front of you.
When you mention this to someone, they’ll say, “Oh, don’t worry, I can multi-task.” That’s a myth. Neuroscience studies have confirmed the brain doesn’t really do tasks simultaneously all that well. The brain goes back and forth from a primary task to a secondary task. Driving an automobile and simultaneously texting can result in brain overload. Your reaction time to traffic lights, brake lights, and exit signs is slowed.
This has been dubbed “inattention blindness” by the National Safety Council. Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice a fully-visible yet unexpected object due to being distracted by another task, event, or object. When you’re driving a car, you can literally be looking at something but not “see” it because of a distraction. It’s almost as if you’re looking through it. A hazard can be right in front of you. You just don’t truly see it. So you can’t react to it in time to avoid it.
Yes, we can do two things at once. But only if they aren’t demanding cognitively. For instance, most of us can walk and chew gum at the same time. Yet there’s been countless studies suggesting pedestrians on their cell phones have less awareness of their surroundings. This makes them almost twice as likely than a non-distracted pedestrian to step out into traffic.
Both texting and driving require you to think. This makes them both cognitive functions. They SHOULD NOT be done simultaneously.
Any Distracted Driving Kills
It’s far too difficult to track the body count each year when it comes to deaths in accidents caused by someone texting and driving. It’s often hard to identify if someone was texting while driving when they crashed.
However, the National Safety Council estimates that cell phone use while driving contributed to roughly 1.5 million car accidents in 2018. The U.S. Department of Transportation has concluded that cell phone use while driving kills anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 people annually.
Unfortunately, the body count will only increase as cell phone usage does. Young drivers on our roadways today have grown up seeing everyone’s faces fixated on their cell phones. 52% of minors surveyed said they’d seen their parents sending or reading text messages while driving within the last year. Half of adults age 34 to 45 and 21% of adults age 46 to 64 admit to texting while driving. We’re just as glued to our phones as anyone.
As they say, the apple doesn’t fall from the tree. A generation of new drivers is out there who view 24/7 connectivity as a normal part of everyday life they’re entitled to. Texting is a way of life for teens and young adults. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that they too aren’t getting off their phones when they get behind the wheel of a car. A Pew Research Center study found that 59% of 18-33 year-olds admit to typing or reading texts while driving. Others admit to browsing dating apps, social media, Spotify, or taking and sending selfies while driving.
California law prohibits all motorists from using a cellphone while driving, except when used in hands-free mode. Unlawful use of a cellphone while driving is an infraction in the state. The first offense is a $20 base fine. The base fine is $59 for any additional or subsequent violation.
Regardless of the laws in your state, put away your cellphone until you’ve arrived at your destination. No text message received or sent is worth dying over.
LET OUR LOS ANGELES DISTRACTED DRIVING ACCIDENT ATTORNEYS GET MONEY FOR YOU
Every year, distracted driving takes the lives of thousands and injures many, many more. If you or a loved one have been hurt or killed in an accident caused by someone texting while driving, our distracted driving and wrongful death attorneys in the Los Angeles area ready to fight for your rights. We’ll go above and beyond to get you the compensation you deserve. Call our offices at (818) 334-5711 or complete our quick and easy online case evaluation form today to begin your journey to justice.
