Just about every day, you get in your car to go to work, school, run errands or get out of the house for a while. It is a habit, and you expect to return home safely every time as you always do. The problem is, Colorado is full of distracted drivers, and these drivers cause numerous accidents every year. You never know if you are going to end up falling victim to a distracted driver.
You see distracted drivers every time you hit the road, even if you do not realize it at first. They are typically pretty easy to spot if you are looking for them.
There are so many causes of distracted driving, any of which fall under three main categories. These categories are:
Manual distractions involve anything that removes a driver’s hands from the steering wheel. Visual distractions are anything that takes a driver’s eyes off the road. Finally, cognitive distractions are anything that takes a driver’s mind off the road.
You might notice other drivers doing various things while behind the wheel that take their eyes or attention from the road. A big one is looking at cellphones. You may not see them holding their phones, but you may notice the glow of a screen or them looking down at their laps. Other common behaviors include:
All these things seem pretty minor, but any of them can take a person’s eyes off the road, hands off the wheel and mind off the main task at hand. It only takes a couple seconds of not paying attention to cause a serious accident. It just isn’t worth it, but people do these things all the time.
If you spot a distracted driver, it may be best to pull over or take another route, if possible — anything you can do to avoid a crash. If you do get hit by a distracted driver, document everything you noticed them doing before the accident. If you opt to pursue a personal injury case to seek compensation for any damages resulting from the auto collision, this information could help your case.
