At one point in time, in the not too distant past, our biggest worry for out teenage driver was that they would drive after drinking alcohol or get in the car with someone that had been drinking The good news is that the efforts we have made over the last two decades to educate teenagers of the dangers of drinking and driving are starting to pay off. Statistics show us that accidents caused as a result of teenagers drinking and driving have gone down 35% over the past twenty years. While that is certainly wonderful news, there is another teenage phenomenon that appears to be taking the place of drinking and driving as the number one danger to teenage drivers and passengers – texting while driving. It may seem odd to put text messaging in the same category as drinking and driving, but the risks and dangers to people on the nation’s roads are strikingly similar.

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) puts driving while texting at the top of the list as the biggest distraction while driving. According to a study conducted by SADD, texting while driving is becoming every bit as dangerous as drinking and driving as far as its ability to inhibit a teenager’s driving abilities. Another research study put teenage drivers behind the wheel of a simulated car and had them operate the vehicle through simulated scenery in both rural and urban settings. Their first run through was distraction free. They then ran the same course while texting, talking on a cell phone and operating an MP3 player. The study showed that the teenagers that were texting while driving were the most dangerous – weaving in and out of lanes, slowing down erratically and even running over virtual people. Some studies have even suggested that texting while driving may be worse than drinking and driving. The theory is that texting, whether sending or receiving, takes your eyes off the road. Anything that takes your eyes off the road is a potential cause for an accident. The risk for teenagers (and the rest of us on the road) skyrockets when you combine their lack of experience with not watching the road. Not surprisingly, nineteen states, the District of Columbia and Guam now have laws that prohibit all drivers from texting while driving. An additional nine states ban novice drivers from texting while driving.

The State of California is one of the States that has passed a law banning all text messaging while driving. As of January 1st of last year, the Wireless Communications Device Law made it an infraction to write, send or read text messages on a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle in California. Despite the ban, teenage drivers continue to use their mobile devises to send and receive messages while driving. Texting while driving, or talking on a cell phone while driving, may be the basis of a negligence claim if an accident ensues. If you have been the victim of an accident and you feel that texting, or talking, on a cell phone was involved, then contact and experienced California personal injury lawyer immediately for a consultation. The attorneys at the personal injury firm of Ledger & Associates are standing by to talk to you at 1-800-300-0001 or online at www.ledgerlaw.com. The Ledger Law Group’s past cases include some of the most serious texting accidents in the United States, including the MetroLink Train Accident which occurred in Chatsworth, 2008. If you have been injured by someone’s negligence as result of them talking on a cell phone or texting while driving please contact LedgerLaw for detailed case evaluation.