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Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of accidents on the road. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted driving claimed the lives of over 3,500 individuals in 2021 alone.
Statistically speaking, this means that when you get in an accident with a distracted driver, the odds are pretty good you’re not walking away unscathed. You’re definitely going to have to deal with damage to your car, to say nothing of injury, pain, and suffering you have to go through.
Oh, and speaking of pain and suffering: you’re going to have to deal with your insurance company. And if anyone knows anything about insurance companies, it’s that they really don’t like handing out money.
So what do you do when the odds are this stacked against you?
Call us at Valley Law Accident and Injury Lawyers. Our expert distracted driving lawyers have what it takes to put you first and go head-to-head with the insurance companies just to make sure you get the compensation you deserve.
In the aftermath of a distracted driving accident, our clients often find there are two main obstacles to their compensation: the at-fault driver and the insurance company. Let’s go over why they’re problems.
Utah is a no-fault state. This means you have to turn to your insurance provider for compensation in the event of an accident, regardless of who caused it.
In a perfect world, your insurance provider will give a fair assessment of your damages and compensate you with enough money to cover all potential damages and injuries. But that is not what usually happens.
Insurance companies are businesses built on the hope that their clients do not get injured or lose property. So the fewer injuries and damages they identify when assessing your case, the more money they make.
That’s not inherently wrong, but it does put you at a disadvantage when making a claim. This is especially true when no one expects insurance clients to be experts in legal proceedings.
By working with a distracted driving accident lawyer, you even the playing field by having an expert who knows as much as the insurance provider’s representatives stand up for you. They can’t fool a lawyer on your side, so they square you a fair amount.
Sometimes, however, insurance won’t cut it. Utah’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) means you have at least $3,000 covering your injuries in addition to your vehicle’s insurance, but especially bad accidents can set you back tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In this scenario, a distracted driving accident lawyer can represent you in court when you sue the other driver. Compensation in such a case rests on proving that you were not more than 50% responsible for the accident, and that is what an attorney will work to accomplish.
Whether it’s your insurance company or the other driver you need to claim damages from, you will be spending time recovering and pulling your life together while your Salt Lake City personal injury law firm argues for compensation for:
A specific image tends to pop up in our minds whenever we hear the phrase “distracted driving.” We tend to picture a driver with his eyes on his phone, possibly with only one hand on the wheel, and some kind of hazard, such as an oncoming vehicle or a slow-crossing pedestrian.
Considering 12% of distracted driving fatalities involve a cell phone in use, this isn’t surprising. Unfortunately, the cellphone stereotype often leads us to discount what distracted driving really is.
Distracted driving actually includes any activity where the driver turns their attention away from driving. So yes, this includes texting and calling, but also encompasses eating, drinking (any fluid and not just alcohol), and even simply conversing with people in the car.
When all these instances are taken together, distracted driving accounts for about 3000 deaths each year. This is between 8 to 9 percent of all fatal collisions on American roads.
Given the aforementioned levels of risk and danger, how do we reduce the odds of distracted driving accidents?
The answer might seem straightforward: just don’t drive distracted. But what does that mean, exactly?
How does one minimize the odds of distractions drawing their attention away while behind the wheel?
Utah Code Section 41-6a-1716 expressly prohibits most cellphone use in a vehicle with the exception of a few instances:
Violation of the section is considered either a Class B or Class C misdemeanor, depending on the circumstances. For the most part, avoiding a violation just means avoiding using your phone while driving unless one or more of the conditions are met.
In the event you really do have to use your phone while behind the wheel, we recommend the following:
Most of the logic behind eating and drinking while driving follows the same line of thinking as what we discussed regarding cell phone use. The best safety measure when it comes to eating and drinking while driving is not to do it at all.
The best practice is to pull over for a snack or to finish food and drink before ever getting into the driver’s seat. Even if you don’t have to look away from the road to take a bite, food items are large enough to block large swathes of your field of view at a time.
To add to that, greasy hands can pose a risk in that they could potentially slip off the steering wheel at the worst of times, leading to an accident.
Plus, let’s face it, food in the car is straight-up unsanitary in the first place and is hell to clean up after. No sane person wants grease on the steering wheel or food stains on the car seats.
We could recommend that, as with previous items on this list, it’s best to avoid conversation at all while driving, but uniquely, this might not always apply. Research has shown that conversations with a passenger have been shown to improve road safety in some cases.
A good conversation can keep drivers awake and alert, especially in heavy traffic. Light conversation, in particular, can potentially reduce the odds of losing your temper on the road.
That said, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Extremely engaging conversation might lead inexperienced drivers to look away from the road, leading to accidents. Talking with people in the back seat is also dangerous because, unlike people in the passenger seat, they can’t see what you can.
So instead of saying, “Don’t do it,” we’ll instead say: be responsible with conversation while driving.
Some things count as distracted driving without ever being explicitly mentioned or defined in the law. Adjusting the A/C unit, checking the glove compartment, reaching for items in the back seat, and other similar activities count as distracted driving.
Even paying attention to distractions outside the vehicle count as distracted driving. Turning your attention to a stray dog chasing your car is just as dangerous as any other example we have gone over, for example.
It takes discipline to avoid distractions, but anyone behind the wheel is expected by Utah law to possess that discipline. As a general rule, drive when you drive, and do nothing else (except maybe talk with someone in the passenger seat).
Here’s the truth: even if you follow our advice on this page to the letter, the odds of being involved in a distracted driving accident are never zero.
Just because you are a responsible driver who keeps your attention on the road does not mean everyone else is. And when you do get into an accident because another driver was distracted, you’re going to want the best legal help you can get.
That’s what our distracted driving accident attorneys at Valley Law Accident and Injury Lawyers offer.
We offer free consultations and case evaluations, and we do not charge you unless we win your case. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
If you’ve been in a distracted driving accident, Valley Law wants to help you get your life back on track. Let us deal with the paperwork, the insurance providers, and all the nitty-gritty so you can focus on getting your life back together.
Call us today at 801-810-9999 or contact us online. We’ll be waiting.
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We have helped many clients recover from injuries resulting from car accidents in West Valley, Salt Lake City, and the greater Utah area. We are here to help you recover after an accident. If you've been injured, don't hesitate to call Valley Law Accident and Injury Lawyers for a free consultation. We have recovered millions for our clients and we are ready to fight for you.
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