By now, most people realize that distracted driving is a huge problem. Taking out your cellphone and reading a text or making a call is incredibly dangerous while driving, and it significantly increases your chances of being involved in an accident. And yet, every day, every week, every month we keep hearing about more and more people being involved in these terrible distracted driving accidents.
The people who are distracted at the times of these wrecks can be held liable for the harm they have caused the victims. For the injured parties, a civil lawsuit can yield the compensation they need to recover from the accident.
With all that said, though, what is the state of Indiana doing to try to curtail the number of distracted driving accidents that occur?
Indiana has a couple of laws on the books that deal with distracted driving. The first is for novice drivers. These drivers are forbidden from using a cellphone in any way while they are behind the wheel. Even hands-free devices are not allowed. The other law applies to all drivers, which bans texting.
While these laws are nice, there is an obvious weakness to them: non-novice drivers are allowed to use cellphones, whether they are on hands-free devices or not. Though hands-free devices can be helpful, using them will still take your full attention away from the road, meaning that you aren’t as focused as you should be on the most important task at hand. Whether you use hands-free technology or you use a cellphone regularly, you could be held liable for an accident if you were using either device at the time of a car accident.
Source: Distraction.gov, “State Laws,” Accessed Oct. 1, 2015