Georgia enacted a law prohibiting Distracted Driving in 2010. In Georgia, teens and bus drivers are not allowed to use a cell phone at all while driving, even with a hands free device, and texting is banned for all drivers.
What many people don’t realize is that there are many other kinds of distractions besides texting that can lead to accidents that result in severe injuries and even death. These other distractions are dangerous behaviors that drivers engage in and are called “Distracted Driving”.
Distracted Driving can be any of three categories: Visual, Manual or Cognitive.
Visual Distraction is looking at something besides the road while driving.
Manual Distraction is taking your hand off of the steering wheel.
Cognitive Distraction is directing your thoughts to something else while driving.
Talking on your phone, eating, drinking, handing something to a child in the backseat, jotting down an important “to-do” memo to yourself and daydreaming about your fun Saturday night plans are ALL Distracted Driving. Texting is the worst offender because it involved all three kinds of distraction at once.
In 2009 alone, nearly 5,500 people were killed and 500,000 were injured in Distracted Driving accidents in the United States. An estimated 20% of all motor vehicle accidents are a result of distracted driving. Using a cell phone- even a handsfree device- delays a drivers reactions as much as having a blood alcohol level of .08- the legal limit.
Think about enforcing new “rules of the road” for your family that prohibit any behavior that takes your mind- or your hands- off of the very important task of driving a vehicle. It just might save a life.
At the Nelson O. Tyrone Law Firm we represent clients who have been seriously injured. No two cases are alike. That’s why we represent the individual – and their family – one client at a time.
Contact us at the Nelson O. Tyrone Law Firm and talk to us about your specific situation. We will sit down with you free of charge and discuss what we can do for you. If we can’t help you, we will do our best to put you in the hands of lawyers who can.
Do you have questions about what we can do for you?
Contact us at 404 377-0017 or via email at admin@tyronelaw.com. We will take the time to sit down with you free of charge.
Hayley serves as a Labor and Delivery Nurse Consultant for the Tyrone Law Firm. She attended and graduated Cum Laude from the University of Georgia in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/Public Relations. After graduation she moved to the gulf coast where she pursued a career in real estate and development.
