A recent New York Times article reported Chrysler is rolling out wi-fi internet access in its cars. So now people are going to be able to look at their laptops while driving? This got me thinking about one of my biggest rants in my car accident cases. The number of confessions just does not add up.
It has already been well established people drive while reading and writing email and text messages. One study showed 19% of drivers text message while driving. We also know that 85% of all cell phone customers talk while driving. The National Highway Safety & Transit Administration estimates at any given second there are 500,000 people talking while driving. Now here comes the scary part. driving while talking on a cell phone is equivalent in safety to someone driving DUI with a .08. (Want some more interesting cell phone stats… a 20 year driving on the phone has the reaction time of a 70 year old, reaction time slows by 18%, and the list goes on and on).
So everyone by now should know driving on the phone is less safe. And the numbers seem to indicate almost 1 in 5 drivers are distracted by electronic devices while driving. So why do my cases show a far less percentage of defendants on the cell phone while driving? Even I know this number can’t be right. Only a personal injury attorney like myself sits at an intersection counting the number of people who drive by while on the phone. The only way to get to the bottom of this is to subpoena the other driver’s cell phone records. You would be surprised how many attorneys fail to do this one little thing that can dramatically change the value of a case. I never trust the other driver when they say they were not on the phone. Always have your attorney get their billing records and see if a call was made around the time of the accident. You also need to get your case to an attorney quickly, preferably in the first six months after your accident, because cell phone carriers may destroy their billing records after a certain time period and you lose that crucial evidence.
