From using your phone to looking at something alongside the road for an extended period of time, you need to avoid various distractions while driving. Unfortunately, many drivers become distracted while operating vehicles and they pose a serious threat on the road. Every year, distracted driving claims a lot of lives and results in even more victims sustaining devastating injuries.
It is essential for drivers to understand risk factors that can interfere with their ability to stay focused while driving. Moreover, drivers should look at the prevalence of distracted driving fatalities and injuries in order to recognize the scope of the problem.
Distracted driving causes life-altering injuries
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2018, roughly 400,000 people suffered injuries in distracted driving accidents, according to estimates. Sometimes, victims have the ability to recover from a crash after suffering relatively minor injuries. However, some victims experience devastating injuries that alter the course of their lives, such as those who cannot walk again or victims who cannot perform their job duties after a crash.
These injuries often result in lost wages, medical costs and other financial hardships.
Distracted driving takes many different forms
The CDC reports that phone use plays a role in many distracted driving accidents, especially among teen drivers. However, distracted driving occurs for many other reasons, such as eating food, trying to multitask behind the wheel, adjusting the mirror and talking to passengers. Anything that causes a driver to lose their mental focus or take their eyes off of the road can cause an accident, and victims should hold distracted drivers accountable following a crash.