The East Texas personal injury law firm of Roberts & Roberts has been helping people who were injured in automobile collisions caused by distracted driving for over 25 years. Recently, the number of distracted driving accident cases has spiked due to the increased use of cell phones and other electronic devices while behind the wheel.
If you have been seriously injured in a Texas distracted driving car crash, you need the experienced personal injury lawyers at Roberts & Roberts on your side. Contact us now at 903-597-6000 or 888-211-1233 or fill out our online form. The call costs you nothing … and it could mean everything.
We serve clients in Waco, Beaumont, Lufkin, Texarkana, Tyler, Longview, Atlanta, Center, Livingston, Canton, Rusk, Lindale, Gilmer, Teague, Mineola, Pittsburg, Groesbeck, Fairfield, Mount Vernon and Quitman, as well as throughout East Texas and across the state and country.
The firm has been featured on dozens of television programs, including Fox and Friends, ABC Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC, Fox Business News, CNBC, and NBC’s Dateline. Our Texas accident lawyers have also been featured in national magazines, including Time and Newsweek.
What We Do For You
The attorneys and staff at Roberts & Roberts understand your situation. We’re here to get you back to doing all the things you need and want to do.
- We can help you get money to repair your car or, if it’s a total loss, replace it.
- We can help you get the medical treatment you need to get better.
- We can get your lost wages reimbursed.
Most of the personal injury attorneys at Roberts & Roberts are board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. That means you will have a legal specialist at your side. Learn more about What We Do For You.
About Texas Distracted Driving Auto Accidents
Although Texas law doesn’t clearly spell out what constitutes distracted driving, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has said that distracted driving includes anything that takes the driver’s focus away from the road.
The hazards of cell phone calls and texting while driving get a lot of media attention, and for good reason. Talking on the phone and texting can combine three types of distractions: visual, manual and cognitive. However, texting and talking on the cell phone are just a couple of examples of the many types of distractions that can divert drivers from their most essential task — safe driving. Here are some examples of distractions behind the wheel:
- Talking on a cell phone;
- Texting;
- Surfing the Internet or emailing on a smartphone;
- Talking to or arguing with passengers;
- Attending to kids in the car;
- Drinking and eating;
- Using a GPS navigation system;
- Smoking;
- Adjusting a stereo or iPod;
- Combing hair, shaving, putting on makeup and other grooming tasks;
- Reading;
- Picking up something from the floor or between the seats;
- Adjusting the heater, air conditioning or other equipment on the car;
- Getting lost in thought or daydreaming; and
- Looking at a map.
Any of these activities standing alone or in combination — as well as many others — can contribute to a distracted driving accident. If it is shown that a wreck happened because a driver was distracted from the task of safely operating the car, it could mean that he or she will be held liable for the crash.
Only drivers under the age of 18 are barred from texting while driving in Texas, and the state has no ban on cell phone use while driving. Nevertheless, evidence that a motorist was distracted by texting or talking on the phone could still count as evidence of fault.
NHTSA’s website provides some surprising statistics about the toll distracted driving takes on motorists. Here are some highlights:
- One-fifth of all injury crashes involved reports of distracted driving in 2009.
- 18 percent of fatal distraction-related crashes involved cell phone use.
- In 2009, 5,474 people were killed on U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving.
- Young drivers below age 20 had the greatest proportion of distracted drivers, followed by drivers between ages 20-29. Cell phone distractions were the greatest for those in the age range of 30-39.
- Using handheld devices makes a driver four times more likely to be involved in an accident that causes injury.
- The percentage of fatalities reportedly associated with driver distraction increased from 10 percent in 2005 to 16 percent in 2009.
If you have been seriously injured because of someone else’s carelessness, you need sound legal advice from qualified distracted driving accident attorneys like the ones at Roberts & Roberts.
Contact Our Texas Distracted Driving Car Crash Lawyers Today.
Let the experienced distracted driving auto accident attorneys at Roberts & Roberts help you. Contact us now at 903-597-6000 or 888-211-1233 or contact us online for help with your Texas personal injury claim in Waco, Beaumont, Lufkin, Texarkana, Tyler, Longview, Huntsville, Nacogdoches, Greenville, Paris, Corsicana, Marshall, Palestine, Mount Pleasant, Sulphur Springs and the surrounding communities.
