Study finds distracted truckers are 7 times more likely to be involved in an Atlanta semi accident
SmartDrive Systems found that using a hand-held device, such as a cell phone to text message or a GPS device, is the leading cause of distracted driving among truck drivers.
As our Atlanta semi accident attorneys reported earlier this month on our Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog, haz-mat drivers were recently included in a federal law that bans all commercial truck and bus drivers from text messaging while behind the wheel.
After hand-held devices, the second most-common form of distraction among commercial truck drivers is eating/drinking/smoking; talking on a cell phone came in third. SmartDrive Systems says the information comes form the 34 million records in the world's larges database of risky driving incidents. The study group included more than 20,000 commercial drivers.
The recent study included an analysis of collisions or near-collisions and what behavior led up to those events. SmartDrive safety evaluators looked at in-cab video in the 15 seconds leading up to the event to determine the most common forms of distracted driving.
Nationwide, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration blames about 5,000 deaths a year and 500,000 injuries on some form of distracted driving. An experienced personal injury lawyer or wrongful death attorney can help determine whether a Georgia tractor-trailer accident was caused by distracted driving. Commercial drivers are also subject to compliance with a host of other state and federal rules regarding hours of service and other factors that should also be reviewed by an experienced accident attorney.
The Smart Drive Distracted Driving Index found that 5 percent of new drivers were responsible for about one-third of all distracted driving incidents in a recent three-month period, including 57 percent of all mobile phone incidents and 47 percent of hand-held device incidents. The study found that commercial drivers with the highest incidents of distracted driving behavior were 7.4 times more likely to be involved in a collision or near collision.
If you are involving in a Georgia trucking accident, contact the Atlanta truck accident lawyers at Finch McCranie LLP for a free and confidential appointment to discuss your rights. Call (800) 228-9159 or at (404) 658-9070 or contact us through this website.
