In Canada, auto accidents accounted for over 123,000 personal injury claims in 2010 alone. Studies show a large portion of those crashes (even the single-car incidents) can be attributed to distracted driving, a highly dangerous phenomenon that’s a lot more common than you’d think. The main reason for these distractions? Cell phones — but we’ll get to all that in a minute.
When you’re in an auto accident and someone’s hurt (either in your car or the other driver’s), chances are you’ll need to contact an accident injury lawyer in order to receive your compensation claim. But car accident compensation claims can take a long time, and the car accident claims process is a messy one. In order to circumnavigate those kinds of legal entanglements, it’s important to be a more responsible driver, and that all begins with kicking your distracted driving habits.
For starters, why don’t you consider…
Turning your cell phone off when you get in the car.
While today’s latest smartphones are highly advanced pieces of technology that can offer you a burgeoning music library in addition to a way to communicate with your friends, they’re still distractions. Even “safe” car-phone habits like headsets and speak-typing apps still take your attention and focus off the road. When that happens, the risk of accidents (and you calling an accident injury lawyer) increases exponentially. Indeed, 80% of collisions (and 65% of near-crashes) can fault distracted driving as their main cause.
Pulling over to eat, even if you’re running late.
Sipping a nice, hot Tim Hortons coffee and eating a messy Arby’s sandwich are two completely different things when you’re behind the wheel. Sure, both of them are technically distractions, but attempting to eat roast beef while not spilling any horseradish on your shirt is far, far worse. It’s not an acceptable driving activity at all and will, in fact, increase the odds of you needing an accident injury lawyer in the near future. When you’re hungry, your destination can wait.
Understanding the full scope of your irresponsibility.
Think your distracted driving is only hurting your insurance bills? Think again. Reports show that health care costs and traffic accidents are linked, and the worse the accidents get, the more the economy as a whole will suffer. In fact, economic losses from car crash-related health care and lost productivity total at least $10 billion every single year. For reference, that’s nearly 1% of Canada’s entire GDP. Think about it.
Of course, these aren’t the only reasons why you’d need an auto injury lawyer to help get you in a legal battle. But the more awareness that’s raised about distracted driving, the better chance we have of curbing it altogether. Please, remember that when you’re behind the wheel, your eyes should be on the road and your hands should be on the wheel. Always. To learn more, read this: www.awaxmanlaw.ca
