A Distracted Driver Who Injures You Can Be Held Accountable

If you’re behind the wheel, you must drive reasonably safely. If you’re distracted and not paying attention, you’re failing that obligation and endangering others. If you cause an accident this way, you may be subject to insurance claims and a civil lawsuit.

Distracted driving comes in many flavors. It can be as simple as turning your head to see what your child is doing in the back seat to engaging in Zoom calls on your smartphone.

What is Distracted Driving?

Distracted driving is an activity diverting your attention away from the primary job of safely operating a vehicle. You may think your brain can multitask, but it can’t. You can only focus on one thing at a time. Anything else occupying you fades into the background. If you try to do multiple things at once, your mental focus will quickly switch back and forth between tasks, not do two things simultaneously.

How Do Distractions Happen?

Distractions can impair your focus on the road and make it difficult or impossible to make timely actions to drive safely. It takes many forms, including:

• Smartphone use: Talking on the phone, texting, using social media, or browsing the internet while driving are common forms of distraction. Using a smartphone requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention that isn’t being used for driving, making it one of the most dangerous distractions
• Eating and drinking: Consuming food or beverages while driving can take your eyes off the road and your hands off the wheel, leading to reduced reaction times and impaired driving performance. You’re thinking about what you’re eating or drinking and how to avoid spilling it on yourself, not about driving
• Grooming: Applying makeup, shaving, or adjusting hair while driving can divert your attention from the road and increase the risk of an accident
• Adjusting controls: Adjusting your radio, GPS navigation system, climate controls, or mirrors will distract your attention
• Talking to passengers: Conversing with passengers, especially in a heated or emotional way, will take your focus away from driving safely. You may physically look at the person, not the road, and your brain is engaged in the conversation, not driving
• Mental distractions: You may have had a tough day at work, you’re having relationship problems, a family member is seriously ill, or what someone told you makes you very angry. Dwelling on these issues and emotions instead of focusing on driving takes your mind off what you need to look for and do to safely operate a vehicle
• External distractions: Billboards, street signs, scenery, or other vehicles can divert your attention away from the road

You may be more likely to be distracted if you’re bored, tired, sleepy, or intoxicated.

How Can Distracted Driving Cause an Accident?

Here are some ways distracted driving can cause accidents:

• Reduced awareness: When you’re distracted, your attention is diverted from the road, reducing your awareness of your surroundings. This can cause you to miss important information, like traffic signals, road signs, other vehicles, pedestrians, or obstacles
• Delayed reaction times: Distracted drivers often react slower because their attention is focused elsewhere. This delayed response, even if it takes a fraction of a second, can be critical in situations needing quick decision-making, such as sudden stops, merging lanes, or avoiding hazards at high speed
• Impaired judgment: You may underestimate the dangers of a situation or the risks associated with certain maneuvers, leading to poor choices and an increased chance of an accident
• Lost control: Distracted drivers are more likely to lose control of their vehicles. You may notice a dangerous situation at the last moment, so you brake or steer sharply instead of paying attention and safely avoiding the problem earlier. You may swerve, veer off the road, or collide with other vehicles or objects
• Failure to maintain a safe distance: When you’re distracted, you don’t fully appreciate the distance between your vehicle and others and whether you’re getting closer or farther away. You may drift into another lane, causing a sideswipe crash, or go off the road completely. You could drift into oncoming traffic and crash head-on with another vehicle. You may also get too close to the one in front of you and cause a rear-end crash

How an accident happens depends on the traffic around the car, how distracted you are, and whether you can recover in time to prevent the accident or lessen its severity.

Is a Distracted Driver Responsible for an Accident?

Responsibility depends on what happened before the accident and what caused it. Distraction may be one of several things the driver did wrong, like speeding and driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs. They may have been distracted during their trip but were fully aware of the situation before the crash.

The bottom line is whether the driver lived up to their obligation to operate their vehicle safely when the crash occurred. If not, because they were distracted and didn’t take the necessary steps to prevent the accident, they caused it, and your injuries, they should compensate you for the harm you suffered as a result.

Speak To A Satterley & Kelley, PLLC Car Accident Attorney Today

If someone else’s negligent actions, like distracted driving, caused injuries to you or a loved one, Satterley & Kelley PLLC lawyers can protect your interests and legal rights to compensation.

Schedule a free initial consultation to discuss your accident by calling our Louisville office at 855-385-9532. If it’s more convenient, you may complete our contact form.