Dangers of Texting While Driving

25% of teenagers age 16-17 admit to texting while driving.  Almost half of Americans age 12 to 17 say they’ve been in cars with a driver who texted behind the wheel.  Florida Governor Charlie Crist endorsed a ban on texting while driving this week.  Crist said, “It’s important that we do everything we can to make sure that our fellow Floridians are safe.  The obvious danger of it (texting while driving) is absurd.” 

Florida’s executive director of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Julie Jones, stated that public opinion has shifted to support a crackdown on texting while driving due to the number of fatal accidents caused by texting while driving. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that drivers younger than 20 had the highest distracted-driving fatality rate among all age groups last year and drivers age 20 to 29 ranked second.  Last year, at least 5, 870 people died and 515,000 people were injured in accidents attributed to distracted driving. 

Statistics show texting while driving is more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol! We at Rooth Law Group, P.A., see everyday the dangerous results of DUIs and urge you to refrain from texting while driving with equal caution.