Out of the various different causes of car accidents in the U.S., you may not think that distracted driving is the issue to be worried about. In 2011, however, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that approximately 3,000 people were killed as the result of a distracted driving accident. There are three main types of distraction which could affect a driver. The first type of distraction is manual distraction. This refers to actually taking your hands off of the wheel. It could be due to eating, putting on makeup, reading, using a cell phone, or helping a passenger. Another type of distraction is visual distraction. This simply means that the driver’s eyes were off of the road. Lastly, cognitive distraction means that the individual was not concentrating and their mind was on other things.

It is estimated that approximately 18% of people who were killed in car accidents in one year in the U.S. were killed because someone was driving while using their cell phone. Although it may seem harmless to send a text while driving, it takes the driver’s eyes off of the road for 4.6 seconds. If the driver was driving at 55 miles per hour, that is like driving 120 yards with your eyes closed. Those who caused an accident because they were allowing themselves to be distracted in some way should be held accountable for what they have done. If you were injured or lost a loved one in a car accident in Manhattan, please contact a member of our team for help. We could help prove liability in your accident and get you the compensation you deserve following your accident. Please, contact a Manhattan personal injury attorney from our office today and we will do everything in our power to help you.