How many times do we all make a judgment mistake by texting and driving or calling and driving? Due to everyone being on their cellphones 24/7, there is an upturn in the number of car accidents in Colorado. From my personal experience, I would say that 4 out of 5 car accidents involve some type of distracted driving. It is a big issue all over the United States.

I like to compare driving while on a cell phone to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It is very similar as far as a distraction and reaction times. In fact, a recent study by Car and Driver magazine shows that driving while on the phone or texting is actually significantly more dangerous than driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. A .08 alcohol level usually is the standard for being considered driving criminally.

The study showed that a driver’s reaction time was worse when texting someone than driving at an .08 intoxication level. Reaction times were slightly better under the influence of alcohol. This is amazing to me and shows just how dangerous a person becomes when texting and driving. These people totally disregard the law and drive like they are a weapon of destruction. Imagine pulling up to a stop light when trying to text someone and looking down for a second or so, then slamming into the rear of the ongoing vehicle. This is very common at an intersection with a red light facing ahead.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that texting and driving is 6 times more dangerous than driving while under the influence of alcohol. Reading or sending a text actually causes you to take your eyes off the road for 5 seconds or so which shows how deadly that can be.

When driving at say 55 mph, taking your eyes off the road for 5 seconds is equivalent to driving the length of a whole football field with your eyes closed. Simply amazing. Imagine driving the whole length of a football field on the highway and not being able to see what is going on ahead of you or around you.

Here is a link to the statistics in Colorado:

https://leg.colorado.gov/content/distracted-driving-and-cell-phone-use

Penalties for Improper Cell Phone Use While Driving

Category Violation Points Fine
Minor Drivers(all cell phone use) Initial ViolationClass A Traffic Infraction 1 $50
Subsequent Violation 1 $100
Adult Drivers(text messaging) Initial ViolationClass 2 Misdemeanor Traffic Offense 4 $300
Subsequent ViolationBodily Injury or Proximate Cause Of Death to Another, Class 1 Misdemeanor 4 Up to one year imprisonment,
$1,000 fine,
or both. 
Source:  Section 42-4-239, C.R.S.

Now that we know how dangerous texting and driving is:

HOW DO YOU STOP PEOPLE FROM TEXTING AND DRIVING?

I think that there needs to be more education from the State of Colorado and the legislature, educating drivers of the dangers and penalties involved. Most people do not even know that texting and driving in Colorado is a Class A traffic infraction with a $50 to $100 fine.

In fact, if a driver in Colorado causes bodily injury to another it is called a Class 2 misdemeanor and can carry up to a one-year term in prison and a $1,000 fine. I do not believe most people realize they can end up in prison for texting and driving if causing a car accident in Colorado. These type of car accidents involving distracted driving cause a lot of car accidents in Greeley and Loveland, Colorado.

I have 32 years of experience handling these types of car accidents or car crashes. Sometimes massive injuries are caused by the distracted driver. Sometimes people are lucky and only receive minor injuries at the hands of these irresponsible distracted drivers. If you are involved in this type of car or truck accident, please call me right away at (970) 232-0774.