Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer

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Human error is responsible for most car crashes, and distracted driving is a leading contributing factor. Tragically, many of these accidents wouldn’t happen if motorists paid attention to the act of driving.

Distracted driving accidents often produce serious injuries because the driver may not slow their speed before impact. However, obtaining fair compensation for your damages is challenging without a competent attorney’s assistance.

Do Distracted Driving Accidents Affect Many People in Florida?

In 2021, distracted driving accidents directly affected 155,406 people in Florida. 

These collisions caused significant damage to individuals throughout the state of Florida. The numbers above do not account for family members who weren’t involved in the crashes.

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What Are the Leading Causes of Distractions?

According to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Traffic Crash Facts 2021 Annual Report, the types of distractions listed on accident reports included electronic communication devices, such as cell phones, external distractions (outside the vehicle), driver inattentiveness, other electronic devices, such as media players and navigation devices, other distractions inside the vehicle and texting.

Among the listed causes, driver inattentiveness produced the most injuries and fatalities.

Why Is Distracted Driving Dangerous?

If you aren’t paying attention to the road and traffic conditions, you may not have time to react to any dangers ahead. Distracted drivers typically have delayed reaction times, making accidents more likely.

Driving reaction times have multiple steps. Drivers must first see a hazard, then realize that they must take some action to avoid it and decide which action to take. After the driver initiates that action, it takes the vehicle time to respond. Speed, road conditions and vehicle performance determine its response time and distance.

On dry roadways, cars traveling at 30 mph usually need 89 feet to stop. At 70 mph, that distance increases to 348 feet. If drivers lose even one second of response time due to distractions, they might be unable to avoid a collision.

What Are Driving Distractions?

There are three basic categories of distractions, and each poses different risks. To drive safely, you must keep your mind on driving, your hands on the steering wheel and your eyes on the road.

Cognitive Distractions

A driver’s mind and thoughts should focus on driving, but cognitive distractions divert that focus. These might be thinking about your upcoming work meeting, speaking to passengers in your car, daydreaming about your vacation plans, road rage or driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol or fatigue.

These thoughts can consume drivers, making them miss vital traffic changes and causing accidents.

Manual Distractions

When both of a driver’s hands aren’t on the steering wheel, they may not be able to maneuver their vehicle effectively. Common manual distractions include eating, drinking or smoking, reaching for loose objects in the vehicle, adjusting car settings, holding or using cellphones and grooming activities, such as fixing hair or applying makeup.

Although drivers typically keep one hand on the wheel while engaging in these activities, one hand isn’t always enough to maintain vehicle control.

Visual Distractions

When your eyes aren’t focused on traffic and road conditions, you may not see brake lights ahead, animals suddenly darting into the road or cars merging into your lane. Distracted drivers often look at:

• Scenery
• Navigation aids, temperature controls or stereo information
• Written communications or information on cell phones or other electronic devices
• Passengers
• Items they dropped in their vehicle or bag contents while searching for certain items

Even glancing away from the road for a few seconds can have devastating consequences.

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Why Is Texting While Driving Risky?

Texting involves all three kinds of distractions, increasing the likelihood of these drivers causing accidents. It takes approximately five seconds to read or send a text. Five seconds doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but many things could happen in that short span that make it impossible for a driver to avoid causing a collision.

At 55 mph, cars can travel the length of a football field in five seconds. Texting while driving equates to driving with closed eyes.

In Florida, texting while driving is a primary offense, meaning that a law enforcement officer can pull drivers over solely because they are texting. Unfortunately, that doesn’t deter some drivers.

Can You Tell if Someone Is Driving While Distracted?

Although you might not be able to spot every distracted driver, there are several telltale signs to watch for. These drivers may slow down and speed up erratically, drift into other traffic lanes, suddenly slam on brakes or make dramatic steering maneuvers.

If you notice any of these signs, try to avoid the vehicle if possible.

How Can a Distracted Driving Lawyer Help?

If you sustained injuries in a crash caused by a distracted driver, you might wonder how an attorney can help. We can typically negotiate significantly higher settlements and take over several claim-related tasks so you can focus on recovering. At Gordon & Partners, we want to make your claims process as simple as possible for you. We are so confident in our abilities that you won’t pay us any fees unless we win compensation on your behalf.

Case-Related Tasks

When you hire Gordon & Partners, we will provide information and legal advice, perform case-related administrative tasks, handle all communications with insurance companies, investigate your accident and gather supporting evidence for your claim. We will also negotiate a favorable settlement or file a civil lawsuit and take your case to trial.

Contact us to request your free case review so we can explain more about what we do and how we can help.

Overcome Challenges

Florida distracted driving accident claims can be complex depending on case-specific circumstances, which may include:

• Insurance company claim denials or minimal settlement offers that don’t address all of your damages
• An unfair proportion of fault is assigned to you, resulting in you being unable to seek compensation or facing a reduction in the payout you should receive
• Government agencies contributing to causing your accident
• No-fault insurance problems
• An uninsured or underinsured distracted driver

If any of these issues affect your claim, you may not know how to handle them successfully, but your Gordon & Partners legal team can meet these challenges head-on.

Seek Maximum Compensation for Your Damages

Distracted driving accidents can cause serious injuries and related damages that liable insurance companies don’t want to pay for. When you hire Gordon & Partners, we will accurately assess the value of your claim and fight to obtain maximum compensation for medical expenses, lost wages and property damage. You may also seek damages for pain and suffering and other conditions that adversely affect your quality of life.

If your accident leaves you facing extended medical treatments and time away from work, you may qualify to obtain compensation for future expenses.

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Why Should You Choose Gordon & Partners as Your Distracted Driving Accident Law Firm?

Although any attorney could handle your case, Gordon & Partners focuses on personal injury law, including distracted driving accident claims. Our 20+ attorneys have over 200 years of combined experience, giving us the necessary knowledge to handle your case successfully. Since 1993, we have helped our clients recover millions of dollars, and we can help you, too.

Contact Gordon & Partners 24/7 to find out more about how we can help with your distracted driving accident claim.