There are many different things that can grab people in Montana’s attention. People need to focus while at work, but with the constant information available at people’s fingertips, it is not uncommon for people to shift their attention to something else. This is true in many parts of people’s lives as well. It can occur when people are at home, at various events, when they are with friends or family and even while people are driving their vehicles.
When people are distracted, it can have detrimental effects on their lives depending on the setting they are in and the type of distraction. However, when people are distracted while driving their vehicles, it can be particularly dangerous and many motor vehicle accidents occur as a result. Distractions, such as looking at one’s phone, force people to take their eyes off the road, take their hands off of the wheel and force people to shift their focus from the road to whatever is causing the distraction.
Distracted driving is a problem on the road
In 2018, there were approximately 2,800 people who were killed in accidents caused by a distracted driver. Additionally, there were also 400,000 people injured in these accidents. The 2,800 people killed was actually a slight decrease from the previous eight years though. From 2010 – 2017 over 3,000 people were killed because of distracted driving every year. Also, about 20% of the people killed in these accidents were not even in other vehicles. They were pedestrians, on bicycles or doing other activities outside a motor vehicle.
Young people most likely to be distracted
Drivers of all ages are distracted in one way or another while driving, but 25% of all fatal motor vehicle accidents caused by a distracted driver were caused by drivers between the ages of 20 – 29. Nine percent of all teens killed in motor vehicle accident were due to distracted driving. In addition to this, almost 40% of teens in high school admitted to texting or emailing and driving. Also, 60% of drivers 18 and older admitted to texting or emailing while driving at least once in the previous 30 days.
As one can see from the statistics above, distracted driving is a major problem in the U.S. and it is no different in Montana. When people take their focus off of the road, accidents can occur very quickly and innocent people are injured as a result. It is important that the victims receive what they deserve and consulting with experienced attorneys can help ensure that occurs.