Will Technology Advances Increase Distracted Driver Automobile Accidents In Tennessee?
Technoogy Distractions
As a Nashville automobile accident attorney I am always skeptical of anything that causes a distraction to a driver operating a motor vehicle on the highways of Tennessee. As a technology wog I am always interested in the new technologies that seem to come out daily. The good news is that technological advances have allowed us to keep in direct communication with any one in the world at any time of the day. GPS advances can allow us to find our way to whatever destination we choose, some even give us almost real graphics and voice prompts. The bad news is that these same advances in technology are the direct cause of the majority of traffic deaths and injuries. Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event.
This just in from the Business Week Magazine: Headline, “Ford Adding Social Networking to Cars.” Ford intends to provide a new system that features thumb-wheel controls on the steering wheel and an 8-inch touch screen in the dashboard for audio, navigation, and climate control. Ford plans to bring social networking, Web browsing and iPod-style thumb controls into 80 percent of its models by 2015 as automakers woo consumers with communications features.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) distraction is anything that diverts the driver’s attention from the primary tasks of navigating the vehicle and responding to critical events. To put it another way, a distraction is anything that takes your eyes off the road (visual distraction), your mind off the road (cognitive distraction), or your hands off the wheel (manual distraction). So when you think about tasks that can be a driving distraction, you can see that they often fit into more than one category: eating is visual and manual, whereas using a navigation system is all three.
There are two basic components of the distraction safety problem: The attentional demands of the distracting task and the frequency with which drivers choose to multitask. Task demands relate to the amount of resources (visual, cognitive, manual) required to perform the task. The other issue is exposure, which is how often drivers engage in the task. Putting those two concepts together, even an easy task can be a bigger safety problem if the person does the task 50% of their driving time.
In this fast paced world of high-tech communication devices taking to the highways and byways of Tennessee it is more important now than ever to protect yourself in the event you are involved in a Tennessee car crash. An experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney is essential to protecting your rights if you are in a Tennessee car wreck caused by a distracted driver. At Phillip Miller & Associates we are experienced and nationally certified at the highest level of trial practice. Call for a free consultation to find out about your rights and remedies.
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