Is Distraction While Driving The New Drunken Driving Plague in Wisconsin?

Progress is everywhere, in enforcement, attitudes and technology, making driving safer year after year. Statistics of fatal accidents in Wisconsin and in other U.S. states show spectacular improvements over the last 10 years. Did you know that the percentage of crash fatalities involving a blood alcohol content (BAC) over the legal limit have come down from 46% in 1982 to 32% in 2007?

There is, however, a downside: Distracted driving accidents have shot up over the same period and now account for 16 percent of total fatalities, or 5,474 deaths in 2009. The proportion was only 10 percent as recently as 2005.

Why are today's motorists more distracted than ten years ago?

Distraction behind the wheel has become more prevalent for two main reasons:

• Modern cars are easy to drive and give you a false sense of security;
• Electronic equipment in a car now allows countless distractions that did not exist ten years ago.

While eating a sandwich or reading a map have been sources of distraction for many years, the now widespread use in cars of cell phones, smart phones, navigation systems and video screens have taken the driver's attention away from the road in a frightening manner.

While distracted driving has been the focus of lawmakers in many states - a primary law bans texting for all drivers in Wisconsin-social norms still consider distracted driving acceptable, even though its effects are as bad as, and sometimes worse than, drunken driving.

If you have been hurt in a Wisconsin or Illinois car, truck or motorcycle accident, contact the attorneys of Hupy & Abraham, S.C. today at 800-800-5676 (toll-free) or 414-223-4800 (local) for a free evaluation of your case, or send us an e-mail with your questions. Hupy & Abraham has lawyer offices in Milwaukee, Madison, and Appleton in Wisconsin, and Gurnee and Bloomington in Illinois.