San Antonio Legal Advice

How many times have you been cut off in traffic, or watched another driver run a stop sign, only to notice that the driver was talking on a cell phone?

How many times have you yourself started to veer toward other cars when you stumbled to reach your cell phone or tried to respond to a friend’s text?

Most drivers recognize that cell phones are a distraction that can be dangerous on the road. Yet few drivers want to give up the convenience of ‘talking or texting while theyre driving.

An article in USA Today reports that the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 94 percent of drivers think that texting while driving is a “serious threat” to safety and that 87 percent of drivers are in favor of texting bans. However, more than a third of drivers also admitted to reading texts or e-mail while driving, and nearly 70 percent said that they talk on their cell phones while driving.

Cell Phones and Safe Driving

Data about the dangers of texting or talking on a cell phone while driving is unclear. While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that cell phones were a factor in about 13 percent of fatal crashes See: Personal Injury Lawyers Serving Fayetteville North Carolina
last year, officials note that reporting is unreliable. Drivers are not likely to report that they were engaging in risky behavior while driving, such as talking on a cell phone or texting, especially if those behaviors have been banned in that region.

USA Today reports that the National Transportation Safety Board called on states in December to ban handheld and hands-free cell phone use while driving.

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