Driver Distractions

In May 2001, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety published a report indicating that at least 25 percent of police-reported highway crashes involve some form of driver inattention. Driver distraction is one form of inattention and is a factor in over half of the crashes that occur on America's roadways. Distraction occurs when a driver is unable to safely perform a driving maneuver because some event, activity, object, or person within or outside the vehicle averts the driver's attention.

According to the AAA report, common causes of distraction among drivers are:

• Outside person, object, or event
• Adjusting radio, cassette, or CD player
• Cell phone usage
• Other occupant in vehicle
• Eating or drinking
• Smoking related
• Moving object in vehicle
• Adjusting vehicle/climate controls
• Other device or object brought into the vehicle

Young drivers (under 20 years of age) were found most likely to be involved in a distraction-related car accident. If you or a loved one has been injured in an automobile accident caused by a distracted driver, a Scranton, Stroudsburg, Milford, Hazleton, Easton, and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania-area car accident attorney at our firm will file a personal injury lawsuit on your behalf. Contact our auto accident attorneys to schedule a complimentary consultation today.