TxDOT says agency is seeing more fatal Texas accidents than previously
Houston car crash injury lawyers: Particularly in West Texas, which has seen a surge in activity and traffic related to oil and gas activity, TxDOT says that it is seeing more fatal accidents in Texas than in years past. Gene Powel, the TxDOT Odessa Public Information Officer, said that “more traffic, more people, people texting” all add to the risk of fatal wrecks.
A rash of fatal accidents in West Texas raised awareness and concerns about the problem and local drivers are looking for answers. TxDOT blames driver behavior for the problem, saying drivers drive much too fast and remain much too distracted on the roads. And at the same time the amount of traffic on West Texas roads in increasing, creating a recipe for disaster. (Source: Robert Guaderrama, cbs7.com, 8/7/2012)
The Houston car crash injury lawyers at Denena & Points understand that local West Texas residents want lower speed limits and more law enforcement patrol units on the roads to help prevent fatal accidents. But the most dangerous drivers chronically ignore speed limits and seek to avoid law enforcement vehicles, even initiating dangerous high-speed chases to avoid the law.
But even ordinary distracted driving can lead to disaster. Turning to speak to a passenger in your vehicle, correct a rowdy child, change the music in the car, reach for a phone or other object, and texting or speaking on the cell phone can cause a deadly wreck in an instant.
The NHTSA (National Traffic Safety Administration) recently released a study using 2009 crash data that revealed a disturbing nationwide trend of sharp increases in distracted driving-related traffic deaths. Specifically, the study showed that:
- 995 people died in cell phone-related accidents in 2009, accounting for 18% (nearly one in five) of all distracted driving fatalities.
- 16% of all car accident fatalities (5,474) in 2009 involved distracted driving, up from 10% in 2005.
- 16% of drivers younger than 20 years old that suffered deadly wrecks were distracted drivers.
Distracted driving can also be sorted into three main types of distraction:
- Manual – Taking your hands off the wheel,
- Visual – Taking your eyes off the road, and
- Cognitive – Taking your mind or attention off of your driving
Our Houston car crash injury lawyers note that TxDOT has been trying to address the dangerous problem of distracted driving in part through educational campaigns. Texas is now in the second year of TxDOT’s “Talk. Text. Crash” campaign. Overall, crashes in Texas caused by distracted drivers are said to be down, though West Texas has shown a recent trend in the opposite direction.
Thousands of distracted driving crashes occur each year in Texas. The state experienced more than 81,000 distracted driving crashes in 2011. Hundreds of these accidents were fatal. And yet Texas drivers, especially the young, still remain unconvinced that talking or texting while driving compromises their safety. Focus on your first priority behind the wheel: driving. Learn to understand the very real dangers of distracted driving.
Given current upward trends in distracted driving accidents in Texas, you may need to know what to do to protect your right to seek fair financial compensation after you have suffered an accident caused by a distracted driver. Download our Houston car crash injury lawyers’ free book on the steps you should take after a serious Houston crash. The book is filled with detailed information that you will be glad to have when you need it. And the book is free to our readers. Just click and download it from this web page.