If you are like most people in North Carolina, you have heard a lot of reference to distracted driving in recent years. Much of the discussion around distracted driving has focused on the handheld use of mobile phones. It is understandable that people have highlighted this danger, but the reality is that distracted driving includes so much more than holding a phone while operating a vehicle.
The AAA Exchange explains that anything that diverts a person’s eyes or mind away from the act of driving can be a significant and dangerous distraction. One emerging risk facing more and more people today is the increasing number of infotainment systems built into many new vehicles. A study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reviewed 40 such systems, including those developed to work with the two major mobile phone operating systems. The results were disappointing at best.
While AAA indicates only systems that place a low level of demand on drivers are safe, none of the systems reviewed in the study fell into this category. A moderate level of demand was the best rating, achieved by only 11 out of 40 systems. A high demand was required by 12 systems and a very high demand of drivers was required by 17 systems.
If you would like to learn more about the options available to you or someone in your family after a vehicle accident has happened caused by a distracted driver, please feel free to visit the distracted driving crash assistance page of our North Carolina personal injury and motor vehicle accident website. And of course, you may wish to call a qualified lawyer.
