In Minnesota, texting while driving has become almost synonymous with distracted driving in many people’s minds. Distracted driving involves far more activities than texting while driving.
With the advent of smartphones, a new distracted driving danger involves people accessing social media or playing games on their phones while they drive. Drivers do things like check Twitter, Facebook, Google Maps, LinkedIn and Snapchat while they drive. More recently, drivers have been swept up in the Pokémon Go craze, making the road around them more dangerous.
In a case in Napa, California, a teenage driver ran off the road and hit a pole. Police suspect she was playing Pokémon Go when the crash happened. Similarly, a man in Baltimore, Maryland collided with a parked police cruiser while he was playing the game. A study by the National Safety Council in which 2,400 drivers were interviewed found that 74 percent said they would check Facebook while they drive. In another study that surveyed 2,500 teenage drivers, Liberty Mutual Insurance found that almost 70 percent report using social media apps while they drive.
A car accident victim of a distracted driver may be left suffering from catastrophic injuries. He or she may have substantial medical expenses, may suffer disabling conditions and may lose income and the ability to earn income in the future. Injured victims may also suffer significant pain and suffering as a result of their accidents. When a person is injured by a distracted driver through no fault of his or her own, the injured victim might want to file a personal injury lawsuit against the driver. By doing so, the plaintiff may be able to hold the driver liable to pay damages for the victim’s losses.