Middleton Wisconsin Personal Injury Law Blog

Using a cell phone while in a moving vehicle could be considered a form of distracted driving. Those in Wisconsin use their phones on 36 percent of all car trips in 2017, which is below the national median phone use rate. Drivers in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama used their phones during 47, 45 and 44 percent of car trips in 2017, which was the highest in the United States.

This data was obtained by reviewing the habits of 300,000 users of a safe driving app called Everdrive. In 2015, there were 3,477 fatalities related to distracted driving in the United States according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). There were also 391,000 injuries because of distracted driving during that year. It is important to point out that there are many types of dangerous driving, many of which do not involve phone use. The NHTSA data included all instances of distracted driving such a eating while a car was moving.

Wisconsin motorists may be interested to learn that a survey from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety showed that nearly half of the participants reported bad driving behavior. Even so, more than half of the participants viewed talking on a phone while driving as being a major threat while 78 percent viewed texting while driving as dangerous as well.

The survey collected data from more than 2,600 drivers who were 16 and older. All of the participants had reported that they had driven a vehicle in the past 30 days prior to taking the survey. When asked about dangerous behaviors they participated in when driving, about half of the participants reported that they talked on a cellphone. About 45 percent reported that they read texts or emails while driving while 35 percent reported that they actually sent texts or emails while behind the wheel.

As a conscientious driver in Wisconsin, you no doubt try to be as aware of your surroundings as possible when you drive. However, you certainly aren't responsible for monitoring every action of every other motorist on the road. In fact, your main job is to focus on your own driving, keeping your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel at all times.

So what happens if someone operating another vehicle near you is intoxicated while driving? What if you notice suspicious driving behavior but can't react in time to avoid collision? If a drunk driver causes you injury, there's no reason you should be left holding the bag when it comes time to pay medical bills and other expenses associated with your accident.