Category Archives: Texting and Driving

Illinois State Police Cracking Down On Distracted Driving

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The
Chicago Sun-Times reported
recently on the efforts of the Illinois State Police to crack down on
distracted driving, including a warning issued to a man who was shaving while
driving down the Kennedy Expressway. Yes, just like texting, shaving while
driving is distracting and can cause auto accidents. Spotters were looking down
on the southbound lanes of the Kennedy at both Montrose and Addison, alerting
other troopers which cars to stop. One trooper also was shooting video of
distracted drivers, said Illinois State Police Lt. David Byrd.  135 motorists were ticketed for distracted driving
between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. in one morning last month, said Monique Bond, a
spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police. The tickets carry a $120 fine.

Electronic
signs on the Kennedy warn drivers of the anti-texting operation. A Chicago
ordinance bans drivers from talking on their phones, but state police don’t
enforce it, Byrd said. State troopers will enforce a statewide ban when it
takes effect Jan. 1, he said.

That’s right. Starting
January 1, 2014, a state-wide ban of hand held devices while driving goes into
effect. This will require any driver to use a blue to tooth or hands free phone
device when driving.

If you or someone you love
has been injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago traffic accident, then call
Chicago personal injury attorney Aaron Bryant for a free legal consultation at
312-588-3384. 

Major Cell Phone Providers Join Together For Anti-Texting And Driving Campaign

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AT&T is stepping up
to plate again to campaign against texting and driving. As I have written here
in the past, AT&T has launched campaigns before on this issue, but this
time they are being joined by other major carriers such as Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile US, Inc. and more than 200
other organizations. As ABC News in Chicago reported this week, the new
campaign is titled “It Can Wait.” The new national advertising campaign, a nationwide
texting-while-driving simulator tour, retail presence in tens of thousands of
stores, and outreach to millions of consumers with a special focus throughout
the summer months between Memorial Day and Labor Day-known as the 100 Deadliest
Days on the roads for teen drivers.1 The 2013 campaign drive will culminate on
Sept. 19, when efforts turn towards encouraging everyone to get out in their
community and advocate involvement on behalf of the movement.

The
campaign kicks off May 20, with AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile bringing
a multi-million dollar, co-branded advertising campaign to raise awareness of
the dangers of texting and driving, and encouraging everyone to immediately
take the pledge against it at www.itcanwait.com www.itcanwait.com. The
campaign will focus on the stories of people who are living with the
consequences of texting while driving. Their stories will be told through
various media including TV, radio, digital and social. The first story in the
campaign will be of Xzavier Davis-Bilbo, who in 2010 at five-years-old, was
struck while crossing the street by a young woman texting while driving-leaving
him paralyzed from the waist down.

Also,
government agencies including the U.S. Department of Transportation, National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration and National Transportation Safety Board
have all committed to help end distracted driving and support the efforts of It
Can Wait and others who are working to raise awareness.

This is
the first time that all the cell phone carriers have joined together and
focused on this issue with one major advertising campaign. I think they need to
applauded as we all know texting and driving is a major issue in this country.
But, I will state again, the danger of texting and driving will not go away
until stricter laws are enacted by individual states. Specifically, there need
to be higher fines when someone is caught texting and driving. If someone is
injured in a car accident where it can shown that texting and driving was the
cause, then there needs to be the threat of jail time. In other words, the
charge needs to be raised to a misdemeanor (Class A in Illinois), similar to a
DUI.

If you
or someone you love has been involved in a Chicago car crash or Chicago truck accident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney Aaron Bryant for a free legal consultation at 312-588-3384. 

AT&T Launches Phone App To Prevent Texting And Driving

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The last few years there
has been a plethora of studies, new laws, public and media outrage regarding
the dangers of texting and driving. Finally, some of the major cell phone
providers are stepping up to the plate in an effort to try to prevent texting and
driving. NBC Chicago reported this week that AT&T is launching a new app
called “it can wait”, which allows users to put their phones in drive
mode which sends an automatic reply to text messages and emails stating that
the user is driving. 

If you
just can’t miss an important call there is an option to allow up to five
programmed numbers ring through. Unfortunately it is not available for iPhones,
only Android and BlackBerry platforms. “It makes everybody think about
what’s going on and hopefully becomes infectious and creates a behavior,”
AT&T Illinois President, Paul La Schiazza said. Illinois Lieutenant
Governor Sheila Simon has taken the pledge as well and stated, “What we
need to do is make that cultural change where we let people know we’re not
going do it. And we let our children know we’re not going do it and we
demonstrate it. “

This is a positive sign that major phone carriers are taking responsibility and
doing what they can to prevent texting and driving. It will be interesting to
see what other phone carriers do as well and if there is more extensive
technology to come in the future, which requires all phones go into drive mode.

If you or someone you love has
been injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago truck accident, then call
Chicago personal injury lawyer Aaron Bryant for a free consultation at
312-588-3384 to discuss your case. 

Chicago Has Highest Level Of Fatal Pedestrian Accidents In Four Years

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I have written on this blog multiple
times that Chicago has taken significant steps to make streets safer for
pedestrian walkers. The city has installed speeder cameras near schools and
parks. The punishment for vehicles disobeying cross-walks has stiffened. Stop
signs for pedestrian cross walks haven been installed on busy roads such as
LaSalle, Clark and Division etc… All of these steps among others have been
implemented by Mayor Emanuel since he has taken over, yet, the Chicago Sun
Times reported last week that 48 pedestrians were killed in vehicle accidents in 2012. This was a sharp uptick from the previous two years and the
highest in four years.

The city needs to be asking itself
why there has been a sudden increase despite the measures taken to protect
pedestrians. “The weather was better. It was relatively mild, especially
in the winter,” Active Transportation Alliance Director Ron Burke said. “And
driving went back up for the first time in a while. … It looks like probably
more people were out walking because of the mild weather. That alone creates
potentially, unfortunately, some additional crashes.”  Others say
distracted driving is also a key factor: “People are more distracted. All you
need to do is look around and see everyone on a cell phone, texting or
listening to music and not paying attention to the road,” said Jose Ucles,
spokesman at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Chicago’s numbers
follow a national trend that shows an increase of traffic fatalities of all
types. In data from January through September — the latest available — the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said traffic fatalities
increased by 7.1 percent over the same nine months in 2011. That represents the
largest such increase since 1975 — the first year when NHTSA started collecting
data on traffic fatalities, the study found.

As I have stated
before, there needs to be tougher penalties against those cause auto accidents while
texting and driving and especially if there are personal injuries. Without
tougher penalties, I believe that pedestrian accidents will increase or at the
very least stay at the same level.

If you or someone
you love has been injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truck accident,
then call Chicago personal injury attorney Aaron Bryant for a free legal
consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at
www.blgchicago.com.  style=”font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
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Federal Law Enforcement Grant To Focus On Texting & Driving

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The Nation Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) announced this week that they
are issuing a federal grant in the amount of $550,000 to police departments in Massachusetts
and Connecticut allowing them to crack down on texting and driving. Police
officials throughout the country have discussed how difficult it is to actually
catch someone who is texting and driving. This new grant will pay for officers
whose sole focus will be staking out drivers who are typing on their phones and
driving. The plan is for the officers to patrol in unmarked or undercover
vehicles and place themselves on overpasses. 

Currently it is illegal
to text and drive in 38 states and in 10 states it is illegal to use any type
of hand held device while driving. Although this is a positive step to curbing
the dangers that come from texting and driving, the question remains whether
this will be enough. I would like to know what the typical punishment or fine
that comes along with a texting and driving ticket. As I have written numerous
times in the past: without higher fines and stricter punishment, it will be
hard to convince drivers to change their habits.

If you or someone you
love has been injured in a Chicago auto accident or Chicago truck accident,
then call Chicago personal injury attorney, Aaron Bryant, for a freeconsultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com. 

AT&T Chief Executive Speaks Out Against Texting & Driving

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Unless you are living
under a rock, it would be hard to miss out on all of the anti texting and
driving campaigning that has been going on. There have been multiple public
service announcements on TV, multiple articles (and blogs) written and most
states (39 total) have outlawed the practice. Recently, and I think
importantly, the heads of the major telecommunications companies have been
speaking out. Specifically, Randall Stephenson, the CEO of AT&T discussed
the subject at the outset of a speech in front of investors at a conference on
the state of the telecommunications business.

The New York
Times reported that Stephenson began his speech before hundreds of
people by stating that there must be a change regarding the use of phones in
cars. “the Smartphone is a product we sell
and it’s being used inappropriately. We have got to drive behavior.”  He
went on to state that since he has gone public on this issue he has had to curb
his own practice of using the phone in the car. “When I went public, I
told my wife: ‘You know what this means? I can no longer touch this iPhone or BlackBerry in the car.’ ” He puts his
devices in a cup holder and silences them. “It was a habit I had to break.”

This is
a small step but still meaningful. It must be pointed out the AT&T and
other cell phone companies only recently stopped their lobby against the
curbing of cell phone use in cars.  This was a significant move on these
companies part, but real progress will take place when they actually put their
money where their mouth is and join the lobby towards approving cell phone and
driving laws.

If you
or someone you love has been injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truckaccident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney, Aaron Bryant, for a freeconsultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com. style=”font-size: 12pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’, serif; “>

NY Times Video On Distracted Driving Points Out Dangers Of Texting & Driving

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If you click here you can view a video on the New York Times website regarding the dangers of texting and driving. The video clip points out all of the statistical dangers of using your phone while driving. For example, studies have shown that talking on your phone while driving is so distracting that it is the equivalent of having a blood alcohol content of .08, which is legally drunk for driving.

I have written on this subject and discussed multiple studies in the past on this blog. The reason I am posting this video is due to all the people interviewed in the clip. Many of the people all admit to using their phone (talking and texting) while driving. People know it is dangerous – – they see others being distracted by it – – yet they continue to do it. It is kind of funny because the only person interviewed who admitted to switching to a blue tooth for his ear stated that he switched over because he had received 5 tickets for using his phone while driving. I find this amusing because I have argued over and over that the only way to convince people to stop texting in driving is to increase the penalties. Raise the fines, require safety classes and if someone is injured in a crash, then suspend the license and threaten jail time. I am convinced that this is the only way to convince people to stop texting and driving.
If you or someone your love has been injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago truck accident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney, Aaron Bryant, for a free consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com.  

AAA Promoting “Heads Up Driving Week”

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We need to solute AAA and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety,  for their promotion of “Heads Up Driving Week.”  This is the 3rd straight year that AAA has asked drivers to away distractions and focus only on the road.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety posted these startling statistics about the dangers of texting and driving:

  • More than one million people have died in car crashes over the past 25 years in the U.S., with 33,788 lives lost in 2010 alone.
  • Drivers spend more than half their time behind the wheel engaged in distracted behavior.
  • Using a cell phone while driving quadruples your risk of crashing.
  • Eating, smoking, adjusting music or rubbernecking while driving can be just as dangerous as texting, emailing or talking on a cell phone.
  • Passengers are one of the most frequently reported causes of distraction, with young children being four times more

    • AAA also stated on their website that the majority of the public is concerned about texting and driving: ”  themajority of drivers – 94% – agree that texting or emailing while driving is unacceptable and 87% support laws against reading, typing or sending text messages or emails while driving…”

    The question that remains is why the public continues to text and drive despite their strong sentiments against it?  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think it goes back to the driving public’s willingness to adapt to new driving laws. There have been multiple reports that it took the public years to adapt to the seat belt laws that were enacted 50 years ago. Maybe it is taking the public time to adapt to a culture where it is socially unacceptable to text and drive.  Maybe it will take stiffer penalties for the public to begin changing their behavior.

    If you or someone you love has been seriously injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truck accident, then call Chicago injury attorney, Aaron Bryant, for a free consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com.

    2011 Safe Drivers Act Introduced In Congress

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    I have written many times in the past about the dangers of cell phone use while driving. These dangers including talking on your cell phone, texting, emailing or surfing the internet. Up to this point, the U.S. Congress has left it up to states to regulate their distracted driving laws.

    This could change shortly as Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., has introduced legislation that would federalize driving and cell phone usage, laws that are currently managed by individual states. [1] Under the proposed legislation, the bill would direct the U.S. Department of Transportation to set up a nationwide standard, prohibiting cell phone use while driving. The lone exception would allow drivers to call for help during an emergency.

    The proposed legislation includes some exclusions such as allowing drivers to use voice-operated, vehicle-integrated devices, as well as voice-operated GPS systems. McCarthy’s bill would require the DOT to conduct a study on distracted driving, focusing particularly on the issue of cognitive distraction and the impact of distraction on young and inexperienced drivers. Within two years, the DOT would be required to report its findings to Congress, providing recommendations for revising the minimum distracted driving prohibitions and penalties states must comply with. States would be given two years to comply with the law or face a 25 percent reduction in federal highway funding.

    This is a similar approach that federal government used in the 1990s when they strongly encouraged states to adopt stricter drinking and driving laws, specifically the .08 blood alcohol limits.

    Many believe this is long over-due as distracted driving accidents are one of the leading causes of vehicle fatalities.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 5,474 people died as a result of driver distraction in 2009, accounting for approximately 1 in 6 of all auto crash fatalities that year.

    If you or someone you love has been injured in a Chicago car accident or a Chicago trucking accident, then call Chicago car accident attorney, Aaron Bryant, for a free consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com.

    Chicago Alderman Propose Strict Texting & Driving Ban For Teens

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    Currently it is against the law to text and drive in the city of Chicago and throughout the state of Illinois. Despite these recent law changes, Chicago aldermen are looking to strengthen local texting and driving ordinances.  The Chicago Tribune recently reported that Chicago alderman, Ed Burke, has proposed legislation that would mandate cell phones sold in Chicago come equipped with a way for parents to disable texting features for their teenagers.  The proposal aims to prevent auto accidents caused by teens who text while they drive.  Specifically the feature would require all cell phones sold in the City to offer a special feature allowing parents to block their teenaged children from texting while driving.  The legislation currently proposes that those who sell phone without the blocking feature would face fines up to $1,000.

    This is a very strict proposal, but, no doubt, sends a message to the Chicago community that the city counsel takes this issue seriously.  I think there are a lot of questions that would need to be answered before this goes into law such as how do you regulate manufacturers, distributors and sellers.  And, more specifically, how much would that cost. Regardless, this is a positive step towards helping make our roads safer.

    If you or someone you know has been involved in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truck accident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at www.blgchicago.com.