Florida Law Enforcement Officers Say Texting While Driving Causes Deadly Accidents
Sep 21, 2015
Chalik & Chalik Law Offices
Miami, FL (Law Firm Newswire) September 21, 2015 – Texting while driving is deadly. That is the message Florida law enforcement officials and other experts are trying to send.
According to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted driving was the cause of 18 percent of all crashes nationwide in 2012, causing 3,328 deaths and 421,000 injuries. Texting while driving is one of the worst types of distractions, creating a crash risk 23 times greater than normal.
“Distracted driving kills,” said Jason Chalik, a prominent Florida car accident attorney with the Law Offices of Chalik & Chalik. “We all may be tempted to read or send a text message while driving, but it is not worth the risk.”
Florida teens got the message recently when firefighters from Palm Beach Fire Rescue set up a demonstration of what needs to be done to rescue victims of a car accident caused by texting and driving. Firefighters used the Jaws of Life device to take the top off a smashed vehicle and extract the crash test dummies within.
“I think we definitely got their attention,” said one of the organizers of the event.
Teen drivers commit a large number of texting while driving offenses. According to a Pew survey, 40 percent of teens in the U.S. say they have been in a car when a driver used a cell phone in a dangerous way. Among drivers aged 18 to 20 who survived a car accident, 11 percent admitted they were reading or sending a text when they crashed.
Florida legislators made texting while driving illegal more than a year ago, but critics say the law is not strict enough. Texting while driving is a secondary offense, which means that a law enforcement officer must witness a driver commit some other offense, such as speeding or failing to wear a seat belt, before making a traffic stop and issuing a citation for the texting while driving offense.
Learn more at http://www.chaliklaw.com/.
Chalik & Chalik Law Offices
28 W Flagler St, #1000
Miami, FL 33130
Phone: (305) 944-2035
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