Dangers of Distracted Driving in Orlando and Across Florida
Distracted driving kills Americans every day, and in the state of Florida, the chances of death due to distracted driving are substantially heightened. 514 Floridians were killed from 2019 to 2020 due to the actions of distracted drivers, putting Florida among the nation's highest rates of distracted drivers.
While fatalities are indeed the worst outcome of distracted driving, injuries also shouldn’t be discounted. Injuries sustained in a car accident can last a lifetime, with the consequences potentially including disfigurement, loss of limb, permanent disability, and loss of income potential. These consequences are also life-altering circumstances and should be treated with the same seriousness as fatalities.
Types of Distractions That Can Cause Car Accidents
Drivers can become distracted by any number of sources, but most distractions typically fall into one of the following three categories.
Manual Distractions
Manual distractions include anything requiring a driver to take a hand, foot, or both away from the task of controlling their vehicle. Eating and drinking behind the wheel, changing clothes, or adjusting air conditioning or radio settings qualify under manual distractions. By having hands or feet otherwise occupied, a driver creates the possibility that they may not be able to react to split-second changes in the environment as needed.
Visual Distractions
Visual distractions are any distractions that encourage drivers to direct their focus away from driving their own vehicle. Pets or other animals in the environment, other cars, flashy environmental features, and even children in the vehicle can all become visual distractions. Cell phones mounted on the dashboard can also create visual distractions, even if they are hands-free, as text, email, application, or call notifications may still be very visible.
Visual distractions create the danger of a driver directing their focus away from driving. This phenomenon, sometimes known as “rubbernecking,” is one of the leading causes of distracted driving accidents.
Cognitive (Mental) Distractions
Cognitive distractions are distractions that compete for space with the task of handling a motor vehicle in the driver’s mind. Sometimes, cognitive distractions can be as simple as a driver being too focused on maintaining the correct route to their destination and not attending to their surroundings. Other cognitive distractions could include a heightened emotional state as the result of an argument or other emotionally intense experience.
Whatever the cause of the distraction, cognitive distractions cause drivers to only devote a portion of their attention to the task at hand, which slows reaction times when the environment suddenly changes.
Proving Your Accident was Caused by a Distracted Driver
Unfortunately, one of the challenges of filing a claim of distracted driving lies in proving that the driver was distracted at the time of an accident. One of the best ways to start is to request a copy of the police report filed at the time of the accident. Though it may not always include the details of a distraction, it may contain a mention that lends credibility to your claim.
Most of the heavy lifting of proving a driver was distracted at the time of an accident will be handled by an attorney, though. Attorneys are able to request things like the at-fault party’s phone records, which can show that a driver was using their phone at the time an accident occurred. Evidence that a phone distracted a driver at the time of an accident is typically the most successful means of proving fault. Other methods can be more challenging to prove.
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