How Common Is Distracted Driving?
In 2022, distracted driving was the third most common cause of Pennsylvania traffic accidents. That year, distracted drivers were involved in 11,484 total car accidents, including:
- Single-vehicle accidents
- Multi-vehicle collisions
- Pedestrian accidents
- Bicycle accidents
Distracted driving often leaves behind little evidence for accident investigators. The responding police officer may suspect that the at-fault driver was distracted, but lack proof of the distraction.
Distracted Driving Risk Factors
In addition to phone use, distracted driving happens when drivers attempt to multitask rather than focus on driving. Thus, distracted driving can happen whenever an activity takes a driver’s eyes, hands, or mind away from driving, such as the following:
- Eating or drinking
- Looking at an electronic screen
- Talking to passengers
- Reaching for a dropped object
- Typing or entering information into an electronic device
A distracted driver fails to see hazards in time to maneuver or stop. Even if they spot the hazard, they might not react in time if their hands are occupied.
Common Distracted Driving Injuries in Pennsylvania
Distracted drivers often hit vehicles, cyclists, or pedestrians without realizing it. They not only fail to avoid the collision, but they also miss the opportunity to brace themselves for impact. As a result, even low-speed distracted driving crashes can cause serious injuries to the distracted driver and the road user they hit. Some common distracted driving injuries include:
Whiplash
When your car hits something, your head and body whip around under the force of the collision. The whipping motion causes your neck and spine to hyperextend, twist, and bend unnaturally, causing soft tissue damage.The symptoms of whiplash injuries can include:
- Neck pain and stiffness
- Swelling
- Pain that radiates into your head, shoulders, and arms
- Numbness in your hands
- Neck weakness
Mild whiplash symptoms will often clear up within four to six weeks. However, during your recovery, your doctor may limit your activities to prevent re-injury. Severe whiplash injuries, like a herniated disc, might cause chronic symptoms until you undergo surgery to remove or replace the damaged disc.
Concussion
Concussions also result from the whipping of your head during a collision. As the collision jostles your brain inside your skull, it sustains mild damage. The resulting swelling can generate the following symptoms:
- Confusion
- Amnesia
- Headache
- Slurred speech
- Tinnitus
- Blurry vision
- Clumsiness
- Drowsiness
Concussions rarely cause death, but they can produce incapacitating physical and cognitive effects. The symptoms will usually subside within three months as the swelling reduces.
Broken Bones
When a distracted driver hits pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and other road users, the force of the impact can fracture their bones. Arm and leg bones are particularly vulnerable to fractures in a traffic crash.
A bone fracture usually heals without any complications within six to eight weeks. However, a shattered bone may require reconstructive surgery to install plates and screws to hold the bone together while it heals. These injuries may take a year or longer to fully heal.
Are Distracted Drivers Liable in Pennsylvania?
After a car accident, you may be eligible to pursue a legal claim against the at-fault driver who caused your accident. To win compensation, your distracted driving accident lawyer in Lancaster must prove the other driver was negligent when they caused the crash.
Determining Negligence in Distracted Driving Accidents
Negligence happens when someone breaches a duty of care owed to you. This duty of care requires the person to act with reasonable caution. All drivers must follow traffic laws and refrain from doing anything that an objective person in the same situation would find unreasonably dangerous.
After a crash, your texting & driving accident attorney can assert that the other driver’s actions constituted negligence because those actions exposed you to an unreasonable risk of injury.
Who Is Liable for Distracted Driving Crashes?
Distracted drivers are liable for the crashes they cause. Tasks like eating and cell phone use can degrade your driving ability, and a reasonably careful driver would try to avoid them while driving. When both drivers were distracted, you can still recover compensation, but it will be reduced by your share of the blame.
Your texting while driving accident attorney must persuade the insurer or jury that the other person’s actions played a greater role in the crash.
Possible Compensation for a Pennsylvania Distracted Driving Claim
The compensation you can seek for your distracted driving crash can cover both your economic and non-economic losses. Economic losses affect your finances. These losses include medical bills, wage losses, and earnings reductions. Non-economic losses affect your quality of life. Non-economic losses include pain, suffering, and disability.
Wrongful Death Damages for Distracted Driving Accidents
Distracted driving crashes can be fatal. After a fatal crash, the deceased person’s spouse, child, or parent can hire a distracted driving accident lawyer in Lancaster to file a wrongful death action. The family can recover their losses resulting from the death through this claim, including the lost future financial contributions of the deceased person.
How Can Distracted Driving Collisions Be Prevented?
You can reduce your risk of a distracted driving crash by putting your phone away and focusing on driving, but you cannot control other drivers. Distracted driving crashes can injure you even if you pay attention to the road.
Were You Injured by a Distracted Driver in Lancaster? Call Atlee Hall Today
Distracted driving is one of the most common causes of crashes in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, injuries from these crashes can cause significant pain and disabilities. A distracted driving accident lawyer in Lancaster from Atlee Hall fights for your right to fair injury compensation after a crash.
Call (717) 393-9596 today or contact us for a free consultation with a local Lancaster personal injury lawyer.
Areas We Serve
Our car accident lawyers in Pennsylvania are based in Lancaster, but we take cases across the state as far west as Allegheny County.
Where Were You Injured?
- Lancaster County
- York County
- Dauphin County
- Adams County
- Columbia County
- Cumberland County
- Juniata County
- Lebanon County
- Luzerne County
- Lycoming County
- Mifflin County
- Montour County
- North Umberland County
- Perry County
- Schuylkill County
- Snyder County
- Union County
