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Distracted Drivers Are A Road Hazard

Most of us will have to admit that we have all been distracted at least once while driving. Whether your distraction was caused by a crying child in your car, a CD that needed to be changed or an incoming phone call on your cell phone, just taking your eyes off the road for a mere 3 seconds dramatically increases your odds of being involved in a Los Angeles car accident.

A couple of years ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), along with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, completed a study involving driver distractions. According the report, nearly 80 percent of accidents and 65 percent of near collisions occurred within three seconds of some kind of distraction. One of the most dangerous driver distractions occurred when the driver reached for an object inside the vehicle, which increased the chance of being involved in an accident by nine times.

For more than a year, 241 drivers were monitored by the two organizations. During that time, the drivers were involved in 82 car accidents and 761 near-crashes. The study caused many experts to be alarmed. One researcher stated that activities, such as reading, applying makeup or dialing a handheld device, were much more dangerous than they originally thought.

The study found that using a cell phone was one of the most common driver distractions. Even though California has enacted laws that prohibit the use of handheld devices and texting while driving, people are still distracted just by talking on the phone or dialing a telephone number. The risk is even greater of a crash if someone reaches their ringing cell phone.

One of the other interesting facts discovered by researchers is that drivers ages18 to 20 were four times more likely to be involved in a car accident caused by a distraction than drivers over the age of 35.

If you have been injured in a Southern California car accident caused by a distracted driver, you need to contact a Los Angeles car accident attorney at Steinberg & Spencer Injury Lawyers at 1-800-350-8888 for more information about your legal rights.

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