Ottawa Lawyer: More Info on Distracted Driving
OTTAWA ACCIDENT LAWYER -As an Ottawa personal injury lawyer, I know first hand the trouble distracted driving causes accident victims. According to the CBC, dozens of studies have shown there is a statistical association between cell phone use while driving and motor vehicle accidents.
Here is a sampling of the research the CBC cites:
In 1997, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that the risk of getting into an accident while talking on a cellphone was four times higher than when the phone was not being used. At that time, about 15 per cent of the population owned cell phones.
A study out of the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1998 indicated a 9 times increase in the risk of fatality when a cellphone is present in a motor vehicle involved in an accident. Two years earlier, the same researcher found the risk of being involved in an accident increased by more than 5.5 times when the driver talked on the cell phone in the vehicle for fifty minutes or more per month.
In the May 29, 2001 edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the authors of the 1997 study clarified that “making calls on a cellular telephone is distinctly more risky than listening to the radio, talking to passengers and other activities commonly occurring in vehicles.”
Drivers are more distracted by cellphone conversations than by conversations with passengers. A study published in the December 15th, 2008 issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, found that under simulated driving conditions, drivers talking on cellphones missed exits and drifted out of their lanes more often than drivers talking to passengers.
A 2009 study found that cellphone conversations impair decision making for drivers, while listening to someone talking to you (not on a cellphone) did not.
In January 2005, a study suggested that hands-free devices may not make cellphone use any safer. If a hands-free device is not easy to use, it could be more distracting than a regular cellphone.
If this is not enough to convince you to drive safely without your cell phone, the injury lawyers at Ottawa law firm Auger Hollingsworth cannot imagine what is.
If you’ve been involved in an Ontario car accident, whether or not a cell phone was involved, don’t proceed with your claim until you’ve spoken with an Ottawa personal injury lawyer. For more information, contact the Ottawa lawyers at Auger Hollingsworth by email [email protected] or by phone at (613) 233-4529.
