Although many Minnesota drivers feel that they themselves can safely drive and text at the same time, they are not as confident about the texting and driving abilities of others. For example, even though a survey showed that more than 60 percent of drivers between the ages of 18 and 34 were confident in their skills, 90 percent of all motorists who responded believed that texting and driving should be illegal.
In 2015, there were more than 3,470 car accident fatalities and 391,000 injuries that were attributed to accidents caused by distracted drivers. Teens were the largest group of drivers who were distracted when the accident occurred. However, younger drivers were more likely to be confident in their texting and driving skills.
Even though there are many people who say they are confident in texting and driving, 83 percent of the respondents said that it should be legal for police to pull over motorists who are doing so. Sixty-five percent also said that they believed that texting and driving is one of the most common causes of car accidents. Even further, 62 percent of drivers feel concerned when they see another driver texting while 50 percent feel irritated.
When drivers are in the habit of texting while being in control of a vehicle, they can often take their eyes off the road at crucial moments when car accidents are likely to be caused. If such drivers do cause a car accident while texting, the resulting crash could be more severe as they may not have attempted to avoid the collision. People who have been harmed in such an incident might want to have the assistance of legal counsel when attempting to recover damages for their losses.