April 2018: focusing on helping police efforts to keep distracted drivers off the roads in Indiana and Illinois
Every April, the National Safety Council together with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) promotes National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
Unfortunately, the need to educate the public as well as target enforcement of state and local distracted driving laws continues here in Indiana and Illinois as well as the rest of the country.
Distracted driving accidents remain at epidemic levels – and far too many victims are dying from injuries sustained in a distracted driving crash.
U Drive – U Text – U Pay
The April 2018 campaign focuses on police efforts to stop distracted driving. Under the name “U Drive – U Text – U Pay,” help will be given to law enforcement efforts to keep distracted drivers off the road.
The campaign is focused upon educating men and women 18 to 34 years old.
And during the latter part of the month, there will be targeted efforts by law enforcement agencies and police departments across the country to stop and ticket drivers caught violating local distracted driving laws.
Indiana Distracted Driving Law
Indiana has a law against texting while driving. It is illegal for Hoosiers to type, transmit, or read e-mail or text messages on a communication device while driving in Indiana.
If a driver in Indiana is caught texting while driving, he or she can be fined up to $500.
However, Indiana does not ban hand-held devices for most drivers. It is only drivers under the age of 18 years that are banned by law from using their phones while driving.
Illinois Distracted Driving Law
Illinois has passed a statute that forbids drivers from using hand-held cellphones, texting or using other electronic communications while operating a motor vehicle.
This is called a “hand-held ban.” (Indiana does not have a hand-held ban for adult drivers.)
It is not illegal in Illinois to driver a motor vehicle while using a hands-free device or Bluetooth technology as long as the driver is over the age of 19 years.
Legally Enforcing Against the Danger of Distracted Driving
For those who represent the victims of distracted driving accidents, where victims have been seriously injured or killed in a preventable accident caused by a distracted driver, there is concern that boosting law enforcement efforts as the laws currently stand will not be enough to thwart the danger of distracted driving.
Even if the police dedicate efforts this month to tracking down those who violate current distracted driving laws, will that make any real impact?
According to NHTSA, distracted driving involves: “any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system—anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving.”
Today, the laws of Indiana and Illinois are limited to specific situations of cellphone use (particularly texting while driving).
It is understandable that so many accident attorneys and safety advocates are concerned criminal laws are not enough to stop the rampant problem of drivers being distracted while on our roadways.
There are no criminal laws today that protect us against drivers who are eating or drinking while driving, for instance. Neither Indiana nor Illinois have any legislation that forbids drivers from putting on makeup in the car, or fiddling with the entertainment system while driving.
You cannot drive safely unless the task of driving has your full attention. Any non-driving activity you engage in is a potential distraction and increases your risk of crashing.
We know that distracted driving increases the risk of a fatal motor vehicle accident in a variety of ways. See our earlier discussions in:
- Distracted Driving Status Report Released: Dangers Abound from Driver Distractions
- ARE DASHBOARDS DEADLY? VEHICLE INFOTAINMENT SYSTEMS AND FATAL ACCIDENTS
- Car Makers Encouraged to Change Design of Car Dashboards Voluntarily by Federal Government as Way to Curtail Distracted Driving Dangers: The New NHTSA Guidelines
- Injury Facts Report Published by National Safety Council: Surprising Findings Include Distracted Driving Dangers for Hands-Free Phones
Distracting Driving is a Public Health Issue Involving More Than Texting
The National Safety Council warns that distracted driving is a public health issue for the entire country, and that each death in a distracted driving accident is 100% preventable.
Distracted drivers will fail to drive in a reasonable and prudent manner and the result will be fatal motor vehicle crashes. Victims will die and families will be forever changed. However, distracted drivers also are responsible for fatal pedestrian accidents and deaths of bicyclists and motorcyclists who fall victim to a distracted driver.
Compounding the problem are drivers who are driving distracted while on the job. Consider truck drivers who are distracted drivers.
Supporting 2018 Distracted Driving Awareness Month
We continue our tradition of supporting April as National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. And we believe this year’s focus on boosting enforcement of the current distracted driving laws is a good thing.
However, we must all become aware of the complexity of the dangers involved in distracted driving and how current criminal laws are not enough to stop this growing national epidemic.
Sadly, it remains the role of personal injury lawsuits to fight against these injustices. The reality is that distracted driving fatalities happen all too often in accidents where car makers have promoted dashboard infotainment systems in vehicles, and corporations push employees to do business on the phone while driving.
The state laws of Indiana and Illinois are effective in pursuing personal injury damages against those who are legally liable for serious accidents caused by distracted driving. Perhaps it will be through these companies being forced to pay damages, as opposed to police giving tickets, that change will come and make our roads safer from distracted driving.
Distracted driving is a serious danger in Indiana and Illinois! Let’s be careful out there!
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