AT&T, one of the largest wireless providers in the nation, released a press release asking people to stop texting and driving. There is a website that goes along with the press release, ItCanWait.com, which encourages drivers to take a pledge to not text while they are driving. The pledge can also be taken on Twitter and Facebook. When a national wireless provider is asking people to stop using their product in a certain way, you can be certain that there are real dangers associated with it.
The press release, in fact, quotes one statistic from the National Safety Council that reveals that there are over 100,000 instances every year in which an automobile crash occurs and people are injured or die because somebody was texting and driving.
In Dallas
Texting and driving in Dallas is deadly. There is currently a ban on using cellular phones in any way in school zones, but Texas lacks a statewide law that prevents texting while driving. Over 30 other states have enacted these types of laws.
Dallas is famous for having heavy traffic, busy roads and, unfortunately, plenty of drivers who routinely exceed the speed limit. Because of this, any distraction while you’re driving is likely to create a situation where you’re unaware of a danger directly ahead of you. This has been tested by automobile magazines and in other venues. When you are reading or sending text messages over the phone, you are always creating a dangerous situation for you in the drivers around you.
You Cannot Multitask
Most of the time, the result of multitasking is incompetence, in the worst-case scenario. When you’re behind the wheel, the results of multitasking have the potential to be deadly. Because you’re not giving your full attention to the road, you could easily find yourself in a situation where a vehicle stops in front of you without you knowing about it until too late. A child or an animal could run out in front of your vehicle, somebody could pull out of an intersection, creating an obstruction or worse.
Texting while driving can sometimes be construed as negligence. If somebody injured you because they were paying more attention to their cell phone than they were to the road in front of them, you’ll want to set up a consultation with an attorney to see about going after that driver with a lawsuit. There is absolutely no reason that you should have to pay for somebody’s incompetent and negligent driving.
