Proving Causation In Distracted Driving Crashes

In recent years, government agencies and lawmakers have gone to great lengths to expose the dangers of distracted driving, especially in regards to cell phone use. While there are also a number of other less publicized activities that qualify as distractions for drivers, including eating and drinking and using onboard electronics, few activities have proven to be as dangerous for motorists as cell phone use. Text messaging in particular poses an especially high risk to drivers, as it involves all three main types of distractions, taking a driver’s eyes off of the road, his or her mind off of the task of driving, and his or her hands off of the wheel itself.

Despite efforts to cut back on texting and driving, accidents resulting from these kinds of distractions continue to occur at an alarming rate in Florida. Fortunately, injured parties are able to recover compensation for related losses when they can prove that the other driver was distracted at the time of the accident. For help proving causation in your own distracted driving collision, please call our experienced Fort Lauderdale auto accident lawyers today.

Distracted Driving Law

In 2019, Florida lawmakers officially banned texting and driving in the state. As a result of the passage of this law, those who are discovered to be texting (or using a hand-held device) while driving can now be stopped and ticketed. Unfortunately, these changes have done little to cut down on the number of distracted driving-related accidents in Florida. Proof that a person was ticketed at the time of an accident for texting while driving can be extremely helpful in holding a negligent party accountable for causing a crash. However, even when such tickets aren’t issued, an injured motorist could still be entitled to recovery if he or she can prove what caused the crash.

Proving Causation

There are a number of different ways to prove that a driver was distracted at the time of an accident. Photographs from the scene of the accident, for instance, as well as surveillance footage could help demonstrate that a driver was distracted prior to the crash. Most drivers, for example, hit the brakes as soon as they realize that a crash is impending, leaving skid marks on the road. When there is no evidence of these kinds of marks, it’s a good bet that the driver was too distracted at the time to react by braking. Crash reconstruction and an examination of the damage sustained by the vehicles can also be used to establish that one driver never swerved or tried to stop prior to impact.

If a driver was distracted because he or she was using a handheld device, an injured party could also find proof of this by accessing that person’s cell phone records. These records will show usage at the time of the crash, including whether a driver was opening an email, sending a text, or even watching a video.

Experienced Florida Car Accident Lawyers

For help proving that a distracted driver caused your own Florida crash, please call the experienced car accident lawyers at Boone & Davis at 954-566-9919 today.

Resource:

nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving