March 17, 2022 | Car Accidents
Texting and driving is a serious public health issue, and below are statistics to support this statement. If a driver who was distracted by texting leaves you or someone you love injured, seek the legal guidance of an experienced car accident attorney.
Car Accidents Due to Texting and Driving: What Are the Statistics?
The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) shares that 3,142 people lost their lives in distracted driving accidents in one recent year.
The following statistics demonstrate why texting and driving lead to car accidents and injuries:
- In the United States, 660,000 drivers are on their smartphones on the road at a given time.
- Texting increases motorists’ reaction times at the same rate as downing four beers in an hour.
- Motorists are 20 times more likely to be in a crash when they are texting than when they are not.
- When traveling at highway speeds, composing or reading a text distracts drivers for about the amount of time it takes to travel the length of a football field.
- Although 94 percent of teens recognize the dangers of texting and driving, 35 percent admit to doing so, and they spend about 10 percent of the time driving outside the traffic lane boundaries.
The Losses You Experience from Texting Crashes
If you suffered injuries due to a driver who was texting, you can expect your losses or legal damages to be considerable. In addition to property damage (to your vehicle), you likely have different economic and non-economic losses.
Medical Bills
The medical bills you face right from the start can be overwhelming. Further, serious injuries or secondary health concerns they cause can result in ongoing expenses and high future costs.
Among many other things, your expenses can include:
- Emergency care and transportation
- Surgery and surgical follow-up care
- Hospital stays and care
- Treatment and care from doctors, specialists, and other medical professionals
- Medical treatments, procedures, tests, and supplies
- Occupational and physical therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Pain management
- Prescription medications
- Home health care
- Mobility aids and adaptive physical devices
Lost Income
As you focus on your physical and emotional recovery, you’ll likely spend time away from work and lose income. These losses can be even more significant if your injuries interfere with your ability to do your job or continue developing your career. A loss in earning potential of this nature can lead to serious financial losses over the expected course of your career.
Pain and Suffering
The physical and emotional pain and suffering you endure from car accident injuries can surprise you. The psychological effects of an accident and resulting injuries are real and costly. You can experience physical pain, emotional trauma, and other types of suffering due to your injuries and their effects.
How a Dedicated Car Accident Attorney Can Help?
Obtaining just compensation that covers the full range of your losses plays a critical role in your ability to fully recover, so having professional legal counsel in your corner is always well advised.
Your seasoned car accident attorney can:
- Gather all the available evidence, including eyewitness testimony, to build your strongest claim
- Communicate and negotiate with the insurance company for a fair settlement to cover all of your losses
- Hire expert testimony that corroborates your claim
- Prepare for court so you’re ready to fight for your legal rights if the insurance company refuses to negotiate fairly.
The Insurance Company
While the other driver’s insurance company should cover your claim, the insurance company is motivated by profits and will do everything it can to bolster them. Toward this end, it has several tricks up its sleeve.
Early Settlement Offer
If the insurance company makes an early settlement offer, in your desperate state as your medical bills mount and your earnings take a dive it may feel you hit the jackpot. An early offer is very likely just an attempt to finalize your claim before you have the opportunity to adequately assess your full range of losses.
Overly Complicated Claims Process
The insurance company may make the claims process complicated or lengthy, so you lose faith in the process altogether. They do this by design. There are, however, laws in place that aim to halt such practices, and your attorney will be on it.
Claims Denial
The insurance company recognizes how difficult your situation is, and it may simply deny your claim from the outset hoping you will give up and go away. This is a good way to make a difficult situation worse, but the insurance company’s antics should not fool you. If your car accident attorney believes in your claim, you should, too. Ultimately, it is not the insurance company or anyone else who determines the value of your claim the law does and it’s important to remember this throughout the process.
Casting Doubt on the Extent of Your Damages
The insurance company will attempt to keep your settlement as low as possible, and it might deny how extensive your damages are. However, your attorney is more than capable of demonstrating the full extent of your losses and of skillfully advocating for just compensation.
Shifting Blame
The insurance company may attempt to shift blame away from their policyholder and toward you (the claimant). However, you establish fault by the facts, and with a solid accident claim, you won’t need to worry about such tactics. Your lawyer can challenge any attempts at blame-shifting, so the insurance company does not have this justification for reducing your claim.
When your attorney has strong evidence that the texting driver was to blame, they can stand up to insurance companies that try to minimize your claim. Often, when claimants communicate with insurers without an attorney, they make mistakes and say things that can lead insurers to shift the blame. Never do this – instead, you should seek help from legal counsel at the start of your claim to avoid this risk.
Discuss Your Concerns with an Experienced Car Accident Attorney Today
Chis Dixon, Personal Injury Lawyer
If a distracted driver causes you injuries in a car accident, you want an experienced car accident lawyer on your side. Good law firms represent victims of texting accidents and fight for full compensation for their losses. Set up a free case evaluation with a car accident lawyer near you as soon as possible.
During your free consultation, you should ask the lawyer several questions, including:
- Have you handled texting and driving cases before?
- Do you think I have a valid claim?
- How much do you charge for your services? (Car accident attorneys should charge nothing unless they win.)
- How much do you think my claim is worth?
- Do you ever take cases to court?
- How often will you update me about my case?
- Do you think my case will settle?
- How will I receive my compensation?
If you are comfortable with the attorney and their answers, you can move forward with your case. You have a deadline to file a car accident lawsuit, so do not delay.