Distracted driving causes a great deal of harm here in Texas. This can be seen in statistics regarding distracted driving in the state in 2013.
Last year, distracted driving played a role in nearly 95,000 auto accidents in Texas. This works out to around 20 percent of all the state’s motor vehicle accidents. These accidents have no doubt changed many people’s lives, as the injuries, care needs and medical expenses a person can end up facing as a result of an auto crash can be significant.
Car accidents can not only change lives, they can also, sadly, end them. Quite a few Texans have lost their lives in distracted driving accidents. Crashes involving distracted driving caused 459 deaths in Texas in 2013.
In additional to illustrating the incredibly harmful nature of distracted driving, the statistics also indicate that a rather alarming trend is occurring. This trend is an increase in distracted driving accidents. There was a 4 percent rise in such accidents between 2012 and 2013 in Texas. This would seem to indicate that distracted driving is on the upswing in Texas, something that one would certainly hope to not be the case.
This raises many questions. Why are distracted driving accidents so common in Texas? What things could be done to help reduce the occurrence of distracted driving? Should there be stronger laws regarding distracted driving? Is the message that distracted driving is very dangerous getting through to Texas drivers? If not, why?
One hopes that the state, Texas cities and all drivers will do what they can to curb distracted driving accidents.
Source: The Daily Toreador, “One in five Texas accidents caused by distracted drivers,” Amy Cunnigham, April 15, 2014
