As personal injury lawyers we are reminded on a daily basis that distracted driving is a huge problem in our wired world and one that is costing lives.

Distracted driving: the statistics and the neuroscience

Distracted driving is now responsible for more motor vehicle deaths than drunk driving. The neuroscience shows that drivers are distracted not just for the number of seconds that their eyes are actually off the road and looking at their phones, but that it takes several seconds after their eyes are back on the road before their minds are processing what they’re doing. While distracted driving is responsible for countless serious crashes and devastating injuries every year, it is also driving up everybody’s insurance costs through the everyday fender-benders caused by people thinking it’s okay to check their phones while driving in traffic.

The human cost of this epidemic extends far beyond the people directly injured (or killed) in accidents caused by distracted drivers. It extends to their families, friends, and communities.

Friend don’t let friends drive distracted.

In a bid to try to curb the continued rise of injuries and fatalities due to distracted driving, The Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia has teamed up with a number of partners to create the BC Coalition to End Distracted Driving. You can learn more about the Coalition and the campaign by clicking HERE.

When society finally decided it was not “okay” to drink and drive, and there was a significant social stigma attached to it (coupled with harsher penalties), drunk driving rates and fatalities went way down. We hope that this will eventually be the case with distracted driving. This will only happen if each of us commits to leaving the phone alone while we are driving and take steps to make sure our families, friends and loved ones do the same. It’s really not worth it.