distracted driving - Walton Law Firm

Smartphone Data and Distracted Driving Claims in San Marcos

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 17:30:52 GMT

Car crashes and other motor vehicle accidents caused by distracted driving are much too common throughout Southern California, and all of these collisions are preventable. When a serious distracted driving crash does occur, it is critical for anyone injured to gather evidence to prove distracted driving in order to obtain damages — from money to cover medical care and lost wages to compensation for pain and suffering. One important source of information in distracted driving crashes is cell phone data, which often can prove definitively that a motorist was texting at the precise moment of an accident.

However, as a recent article in The New York Times discusses, cell phone data is not retrieved nearly as often as it should be in the aftermath of collisions, and it is especially important that this changes given the increasing rate of distracted driving crashes. Our San Marco car accident lawyers can tell you more.

Still No Definitive Database for Distracted Driving Cell Phone Data

For quite some time, as the article points out, state and federal safety agencies and organizations have been highlighting the serious dangers of distracted driving crashes involving cell phones — from talking on a phone to sending and receiving texts. While California was among the first states to ban the use of handheld electronic devices while driving, motorists in Southern California continue to violate the law, reading and sending text messages and emails while driving and using their smartphones for other purposes. Such distractions can be, and often are, deadly.

Despite the known risks of distracted driving involving smartphones and the need to collect clear data, the article in The New York Times underscores that there is still “no definitive database of the number of crashes or fatalities caused by cell phone distraction,” and as a result, the current estimates that exist are very likely underestimates. Further, the article points out that this “absence of clear data comes as collisions are rising.”

Smartphones Linked to Rise in Distracted Driving Crashes

It can be complicated and time-consuming for law enforcement bodies to obtain smartphone data after a collision, and as a result, this evidence often is not collected. Indeed, “police can access cell phone records, but the process is cumbersome, and privacy laws require a subpoena.” Moreover, there are financial costs that cities and counties often do not want to incur. Yet, gathering this data could illuminate the true impact of smartphones on distracted driving collisions, and it could provide necessary evidence for injured vehicle occupants who are trying to determine fault in a car accident case.

According to The New York Times, motor vehicle collisions rose by 16 percent from 2020 to 2021, and in 2021, there was a 16-year high of reported traffic fatalities. Although only 1 percent of those deaths were definitively attributed to distracted driving, experts believe the number is actually much higher. Being able to cite distracted driving as a clear factor in many of these cases could result in improved safety efforts in Southern California and throughout the country.

Contact a San Marcos Car Accident Attorney Today

If you were injured in a motor vehicle collision and you believe a distracted driver was at fault, our experienced San Marcos car accident attorneys can help you gather a wide range of evidence — including cell phone data — to support your claim and to seek the compensation you need. Contact the Walton Law Firm for more information about how we can assist you.

Dealing with “Intexticated” Drivers in Escondido

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 16:17:16 GMT

If you get behind the wheel of a car in Escondido or elsewhere in Southern California, you should not have to worry that you will be at risk of getting hurt in a serious crash caused by a motorist who is texting while driving. Yet despite California’s ban on texting while driving, many motorists continue to engage in this dangerous practice, putting themselves and other vehicle occupants, pedestrians, and bicyclists on the road at risk of injury. According to a recent press release from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, it can help to underscore the severe accident risks that come with texting while driving by thinking about this type of distracted driving as “intexticated” driving. Indeed, the press release urges motorists: “Don’t drive intexticated.”

As you can see, AAA takes the idea of intoxicated driving — a behavior that everyone knows can often be deadly — and uses similar language to describe texting while driving. What do you need to know about intexticated driving and seeking compensation after a crash?

What is “Intexticated” Driving?

Maybe you have not yet heard about “intexticated” driving, but you have likely heard of intoxicated driving. As AAA emphasizes, referring to the act of texting while driving as “intexticated” driving helps to underscore that certain forms of distracted driving can be just as dangerous and deadly as drunk or drugged driving. Indeed, as AAA points out, “handheld or hands-free device use delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08%.”

The only way to avoid an “intexticated” driving crash is to avoid using your phone — in a handheld or hands-free manner — while you are behind the wheel. If you consider reaching for your phone, consider whether you would also be willing to take a chance of driving after having too much to drink. While many motorists also admit to intoxicated driving (even if they have not been cited), far fewer drivers are willing to drink and drive than to text and drive.

Learning More About Distracted Driving Collisions

Distracted driving is a serious problem in California and throughout the country. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clarifies, distractions can take three different forms: visual distraction, manual distraction, and cognitive distraction. When it comes to texting while driving, a motorist often experiences all three types of dangerous distractions.

The CDC reports that more than 3,000 people are killed and approximately 424,000 injured in distracted driving crashes. If you got hurt in a crash that you believe resulted from distracted driving, it will be essential to gather evidence that proves the driver was texting while driving (or engaged in another type of distraction) at the time of the accident.

Contact an Escondido Car Accident Attorney for Assistance

Were you recently injured in Escondido or elsewhere in Southern California by a distracted driver? It is important to know that you could be eligible to file a claim for financial compensation. It is important to get in touch with an Escondido car accident attorney who can help you to determine liability in the case and to begin gathering evidence that proves the at-fault driver was texting while driving when they caused the crash. Contact the Walton Law Firm to begin working on your claim with our Southern California injury attorneys.

What Should I Do After a Distracted Driving Crash in Encinitas?

North County Injury Lawyers — Sat, 10 Dec 2022 02:37:41 GMT

Distracted driving crashes occur much too frequently in Encinitas and throughout Southern California. Whether a distracted driving collision happens at high speed on the I-5 or on a local road, the consequences can be devastating. In 2020 alone, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that 3,142 people were killed in distracted driving accidents, and thousands more were injured. Drivers of any age can get distracted behind the wheel, and various types of distractions can cause wrecks. Distracted driving often involves the unlawful use of phones for talking or texting, but it can also involve any kind of distraction that takes the driver’s eyes off the road, hands away from the wheel, or mind away from the important task of focusing on the road.

If you were injured in a distracted driving accident in Encinitas, what steps should you take? Our Encinitas car accident attorneys have tips that can help you with your case.

Call 911 to Report the Accident

After any serious distracted driving accident, it is essential to call 911. When you call 911, emergency responders can arrive at the scene to help with emergency medical care, and the police can gather information for a police report. Any police report from the accident can be extremely useful for a distracted driving claim you file later on.

Collect Evidence at the Crash Scene

If your injuries are not severe enough to prevent you from doing so, you should also plan to collect your own evidence at the distracted driving crash scene. You should use your phone to take photos and videos of the accident scene. In addition, you should determine if anyone witnessed the crash, and you should ask them for their contact information. Witnesses can be critical in distracted driving collisions because they might have seen the at-fault motorist texting or talking on a handheld phone, or they might have witnessed the at-fault driver reaching into the backseat or conversing with a passenger just before the crash. While your attorney may be able to obtain electronic evidence — which we will explain shortly — eyewitness testimony can be important if the source of the at-fault driver’s distraction was not a phone or another electronic device.

Have a Medical Assessment As Soon As Possible

You may know that you need to see a doctor after a distracted driving crash, and you need to do so as soon as possible. Whether you have significant pain or you are not currently experiencing any pain at all, it is critical to keep in mind that some car accident injuries do not cause symptoms immediately. However, latent injuries can worsen if you do not get medical care, and some latent injuries can be extremely serious and debilitating.

Report the Distracted Driving Crash to Your Insurance Company

Your insurance policy requires you to report the accident to your own insurer. You should do so as soon as possible.

Seek Advice from a Lawyer About Filing a Claim

Once you have received medical treatment, you should get in touch with a lawyer about your distracted driving accident case. An attorney can help you plan for an insurance claim and for a car accident lawsuit. We can work to obtain evidence that proves the other driver was distracted, such as data from that motorist’s cell phone that shows they were on the phone or sending a text at the time of the crash. Our firm can also ensure that you file your lawsuit in a timely manner and before valuable evidence gets lost. Under California law, most distracted driving accident lawsuits must be filed within two years from the date of the collision.

Contact an Encinitas Distracted Driving Collision Lawyer

Do you need help filing a distracted driving claim or gathering evidence of the other driver’s distraction? An Encinitas car accident attorney at our firm can assist you. Contact the Walton Law Firm today to learn more about how we can help.

Distracted Driving Problems May Be Bigger Than You Think

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 20:26:07 GMT

If you are regularly on the road in Oceanside or elsewhere in San Diego County, it is critical to be aware of the risks of distracted driving. Not only should you be taking precautions yourself to avoid getting distracted behind the wheel of your own car, but you should also be aware of the significant likelihood that another motorist on the road is engaged in distracted driving at any given moment. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) emphasizes that distracted driving collisions have increased significantly as more car and truck drivers have begun using smartphones, and more crashes have resulted from talking or texting while driving.

A new study published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery suggests that the distracted driving problem may be even bigger than previously suspected. Indeed, the authors of the study reported that more than 99 percent of motorists who have been involved in collisions admit to driving while distracted at least once in the last 12 months.

Details of the Recent Distracted Driving Study

The authors of the recent study surveyed a total of 1,378 hospital patients who were being treated for injuries in motor vehicle collisions. The patients were surveyed anonymously and were “asked about their habits in regard to distracted driving and whether distractions contributed to their current injury or to previous crashes.”

The results of the survey revealed that even more motorists may drive distracted than previously believed. To be sure, 99.7% of the respondents admitted to distracted driving at least once in the last year, and nearly 18% admitted that they were currently being treated for injuries in a collision that resulted from their distracted driving. An additional 31% of the patients surveyed admitted that they had been involved in a previous collision that resulted from their own distracted driving. Almost half of the respondents admitted that they had been involved in a “close call” incident due to their distracted driving, or a near-miss that could have been a crash.

Causes of Distracted Driving Included More Than Smart Phones

While smartphone use has been linked to a rise in motor vehicle collision rates caused by distracted driving, the recent study underscores that distracted driving can involve many different kinds of dangerous actions or behaviors behind the wheel that do not necessarily involve technology. The most commonly cited distractions by the survey respondents included “talking with a passenger and listening to or adjusting the radio.” Beyond those distractions, the patients surveyed reported distracted driving accidents or close calls resulting from eating, drinking, daydreaming, looking at something outside the vehicle, and mobile phone use.

Only about 40% of the surveyed patients said that they had used a handheld device to make phone calls, and 35% admitted to texting while driving “on rare occasions.” Of those surveyed—keeping in mind that more than 99 admitted to distracted driving—about 60% said that they routinely pulled over to a safe spot before reading or sending a text message or making a call. This study in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery highlights the serious risks of distracted driving.

Contact an Oceanside Car Accident Attorney

Do you need help filing a distracted driving collision claim? One of our Oceanside car accident attorneys can assist you. Contact the Walton Law Firm for more information.

Valley Center Seniors and Distracted Driving Collisions

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 16:01:49 GMT

For most Valley Center residents, news of a distracted driving accident does not produce an image of an older adult driver talking or texting on a cell phone. Yet seniors in California routinely use their phones when they are behind the wheel of an automobile, including in San Diego County. California has had a ban on handheld cell phone use while driving since 2008, but seniors, along with drivers of other ages, continue to talk and text on their phones despite the ban. Indeed, data from a distracted driving study in Southern California suggests that teenagers and young adults certainly are not the only age group responsible for distracted driving crashes resulting from improper cell phone use. What should you know about older adult drivers and the risks of distracted driving?

UC San Diego School of Medicine Study Shows Seniors Engage in Distracted Driving Behaviors at High Rates

According to a study conducted by researchers at the UC San Diego, seniors use cell phones behind the wheel much more frequently than you might think. Indeed, researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine’s Training, Research, and Education for Driving Safety (TREDS) program found that almost 60% of seniors aged 65 and older use their cell phones for talking or texting while driving, putting themselves and others on the road at serious risk of injury in a distracted driving collision.

As the study points out, “the distracted driving habits of young drivers have received a lot of media attention, with reports of SnapChatting, tweeting, texting, and other dangerous behaviors,” yet until the authors of the study investigated the question further, “there ha[d] been a lack of data on whether seniors also engage in these behaviors behind the wheel.” In the study, the researchers gathered information from nearly 400 anonymous drivers aged 65 and up, and they looked specifically at the ways in which those drivers engaged with technology while they were behind the wheel.

Older Adults are Distracted Less Than Young Adults, But They are Still Distracted

The findings revealed that, although older drivers tend to be distracted by cell phones at lower rates than young adult drivers, seniors are nonetheless distracted by smart phones at surprisingly high rates. Of the 60% of senior drivers who admitted to using a cell phone while driving, those motorists also tended to have “a skewed sense of their multi-taking abilities,” suggesting that they could be at even greater risk of a collision. Indeed, many seniors believe that their experience behind the wheel means that they are able to navigate cell phone usage while driving better than younger drivers.

Seniors also tend to have more medical problems that can create additional risk factors for car accidents that “reduce their ability to drive safely,” the authors of the UC San Diego study noted, “such as vision deterioration, frailty, and cognitive impairment.”

Contact Our Valley Center Car Accident Lawyers

Distracted driving crashes can be devastating and catastrophic. If you or someone you love sustained injuries in a distracted driving collision, one of our experienced Valley Center car accident attorneys can discuss your options for seeking financial compensation. Contact the Walton Law Firm for more information about motor vehicle accident insurance claims and lawsuits in Southern California.

Distracted Driving Accidents Caused by Phones: What You Need to Know

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 22:41:25 GMT

Just how dangerous are cell phones when it comes to causing distracted driving crashes in Valley Center? According to a recent report released by Cambridge Mobile Telematics, cell phones are much more dangerous than many of us assume. Even if drivers keep their phones away most of the time while they are driving, a high percentage of motorists will use their phone at least once or twice while behind the wheel. Some motorists assume it is relatively safe to check email or send a text message while sitting at a stop light or in heavy traffic. Others assume that quickly updating the navigation system on a smartphone will not result in any permanent consequences.

Yet according to the Cambridge Mobile Telematics, more than 40% of all drivers in the U.S. are distracted by their phones while driving at any given point during daylight hours. Since it is not yet possible to know with certainty whether a collision was caused by a distracted driver, the new report intimates that cell phone-related distractions may cause many more serious and fatal traffic collisions than we would like to believe.

Distracted Driving Crashes can be Avoided, but We Need to do More

One of the key takeaways from the Cambridge Mobile Telematics report is that current state laws designed to reduce the number of distracted driving collisions caused by smartphone use are insufficient. In California, all motorists are prohibited from using a cell phone while driving unless they are using the phone in hands-free mode. The law applies to phone use whether or not the driver is stopped at a light or is making adjustments to a navigation system. In California, drivers under the age of 18 are prohibited from using cell phones while driving for any reason.

However, according to the new report, smartphone use has increased, and motorists continue to use phones while driving regardless of the consequences. According to Ryan McMahon, the Vice President of Insurance and Government Affairs at Cambridge Mobile Telematics, states need to take more action to reduce the rate of smartphone use behind the wheel. As he explains, “while much has been done over the last decade to reduce distraction on the roads, based on the steady rise in fatalities, it’s clear that there is still much work to be done.”

What Should You Know About Distracted Driving?

According to the National Safety Council (NSC), distracted driving can take many forms. Examples of distracted driving include but are not limited to:

Using a smartphone while driving;
Using a vehicle navigation system or GPS;
Combing your hair while driving;
Putting on makeup on your way to work;
Eating while driving;
Talking to another passenger while you are driving; and/or
Feeling mentally distracted because of an issue at work and taking your mind off the road.

Contact a Valley Center Distracted Driving Accident Attorney

Were you injured in a collision caused by a distracted driver? If you were harmed by a distracted driver, an experienced Valley Center car accident lawyer can help you seek compensation for your losses. Contact the Walton Law Firm today to get started on your claim.

Distracted Walking in Valley Center

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 23:41:59 GMT

Many Valley Center residents have heard about the risks of distracted driving. Indeed, as a report from ABC News 10 discusses, on January 1, 2017 additional cell phone laws took effect that prevent California drivers from holding a phone or doing anything more than making a single tap or a single swipe. While drivers are still permitted to use cell phones as GPS devices, provided that they are mounted somewhere in the vehicle, the change to the law aims to prevent distracted driving accidents. What about distracted walking? While the term might sound like an odd one, it is becoming a relatively serious problem in California and throughout major urban areas in the country.

According to a recent report from KEYT News 3, a local official is proposing a change to the law. In short, in order to improve public safety, San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa is hoping to institute a distracted walking law that “would make it illegal to use the crosswalk while using your cell phone.” Is such a law likely to pass? Is it necessary to prevent pedestrian accidents?

Pedestrian Accidents on the Rise Due to Smartphone Use

According to the report, Canepa argues that the rising rates of distracted walking require a law to prohibit this behavior in certain places. Namely, looking at a smartphone to send a text or to surf the internet while crossing the street in a crosswalk can lead to a deadly collision. While automobiles are supposed to stop for anyone on foot who is crossing the street, this does not always happen. To be clear, although the automobile driver may be at fault for failing to come to a stop at a crosswalk, pedestrians should also think about their own safety and to put down the phone while crossing from one side of the street to another.

Canepa indicates that about 25% of car collisions in California right now involve pedestrians, and this number is on the rise. A likely explanation for this rise in this rate of distracted walking accidents is smartphones. More people are paying attention to the screens instead of to their surroundings. Canepa’s proposed law would allow police officers to cite any pedestrians who are looking down at smartphones while they are within a crosswalk. The idea is that the number of pedestrian accidents and fatalities would decline.

What Can You do to Prevent These Accidents?

Just how big of a problem is distracted walking? An article in Safety.com notes that about 5,000 pedestrians sustain fatal injuries each year, while 76,000 more suffer from serious nonfatal injuries. Experts are quite certain that distracted walking is at least part of the problem, and California would not be the first state to ban distracted walking in some capacity. New Jersey has already instituted a ban on texting while walking.

The article discusses a 2012 study conducted by researchers at SUNY-Stony Brook, which “found that those who texted while walking were 60 percent more likely to veer off line than non-texters.” The researchers behind the study as well as other in the film describe this as “inattentive blindness.” While use of the term “blindness” might seem like an exaggeration, the Stony Brook researchers highlighted how surprised they were to “find that talking and texting on a cell phone [was] so disruptive to one’s gait and memory recall of [a] target location.”

To prevent these accidents, it is important to pay attention while walking and especially while in a crosswalk. If you were injured in an accident caused by a distracted walker, you should speak with a Valley Center accident lawyer as soon as you can. Contact the Walton Law Firm for more information.

(image courtesy of Bethany Legg)

Distracted Driving Awareness Month in Vista

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 05 May 2017 12:00:04 GMT

For residents of Vista, California who regularly commute to work in San Diego County or have teen drivers on the road, it is extremely important to be aware of the dangers of distracted driving. As a fact sheet from the National Safety Council (NSC) explains, April is distracted driving awareness month. It is always a good idea to think about how distracted driving can impact our lives and to discuss safe driving and car accident prevention tips with your teen drivers. What else should you know about distracted driving and the risks of a crash in Southern California?

Using Technology to Prevent Distracted Driving in Vista

We often link technology with the increased risks of distracted driving. For instance, according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), texting or talking on a cell phone while driving can greatly increase the risk of a serious motor vehicle crash. However, sometimes technology can actually help when it comes to distracted driving prevention.

For example, the NSC has an online distracted driving course that can “change drivers’ behavior and attitudes about distracted driving.” In addition, organizations can require employees to take an online distracted driving course to “lower liability risks and costs associated with vehicle collisions.”

Learning More About Distracted Driving Courses Online

You might consider an online distracted driving course for drivers in your family, including your teenagers. What do these online distracted driving courses look like? There are two versions: a 90-minute version and a 45-minute version. The shorter course is an abbreviated version of the longer course and typically is recommended as a refresher. The 90-minute course includes the following material:

Research into distracted driving, including scientific studies about the brain’s reaction to distractions;
Learning more about why people engage in distracted driving, and some of the more common distracted driving mistakes;
Risks of distracted driving for everyone on the road, including the driver, the passengers in the distracted driver’s vehicle, and all other cars in the surrounding area;
Steps being taken at the local and federal levels to address distracted driving; and
Solutions to prevent distracted driving, including at your home, at work, and in the public more generally.

Apps Can Help to Prevent Distracted Driving

Online driving classes are not the only way to use technology to prevent distracted driving. As an article from Verizon Wireless explains, there are many apps for your smartphone that you can download for yourself or for your teen and are designed to prevent texting while driving. For instance, you can look into some of the following apps that block texting while driving and/or encourage drivers to be safer behind the wheel:

Cellcontrol;
Driver Safe Mode;
Life2Txt;
SafeDrive;
Drivermode; and
Drivesafe.ly.

As you may know, California law prohibits any use of handheld phones if you are driving. As a recent article from ABC News clarified, California drivers cannot even hold their phones to use them as GPS devices. In short, drivers in Vista must either use hands-free devices or be prepared to pay the substantial cost of a ticket.

Contact a Vista Car Accident Attorney

Were you injured in a car accident caused by a distracted driver? An experienced car accident attorney in Vista can help. Contact the Walton Law Firm today for more information about our services.

(image courtesy of Bethany Legg)

Speeding and Teen Driving in San Diego

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 14:59:18 GMT

What are some of the most common causes of fatal teen driving accidents in San Diego? According to a recent report from NBC San Diego, a survey conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety showed that speeding, a form of aggressive driving, and distracted driving top the list for common causes of deadly, yet preventable, crashes involving teens. It is important for teens who are getting behind the wheel in Southern California to recognize their own limited experience and to take extra precautions to avoid a dangerous or life-threatening car accident, but the impetus should also be on parents to ensure that their teenage drivers understand the serious risks associated with aggressive and distracted driving.

Details of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Report

As the report explains, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recently conducted a large-scale study that aimed to determine the common causes of fatal accidents among teenage drivers. What did the survey determine? Over the last five years, “speeding was one of the top mistakes made by teen drivers in fatal crashes across the country.” The report indicated that teenagers have been drivers in around 14,000 deadly collisions during the time period, and of those crashes, about “4,200 involved speeding.” To put that number another way, around 30% of all fatal teen car accidents involved speeding. Yet it is often the other driver or drivers in the crash who suffer the consequences of the teen’s choices.

According to Bill Van Tassel, the manager of Driver Training Operations for AAA, “nearly two-thirds of people injured or killed in a crash involved a teen driver are people other than the teen.” In some cases, the victims are passengers in the teen’s car. In other situations, a driver or passengers in another vehicle may suffer serious or fatal injuries.

Driving Instructors Indicate that Parents Can Be Better Driving Role Models

When AAA conducted its survey, it reached out to driving instructors who have learned more about teen driving behaviors during lessons. The AAA report indicates that about 65% of driving instructors who were surveyed indicated that “parents are not preparing their kids to be good drivers, compared to 10 years ago.” What are today’s parents doing wrong? The driving instructors suggest that teens tend to learn some of the following dangerous driving behaviors by watching their parents:

Using cell phones behind the wheel; and/or
Speeding in excess of 15 miles per hour beyond the speed limit.

The fact that teens are seeing their parents talking on handheld cellphones while driving should not come as a huge surprise. Indeed, nearly 80% of drivers who are between the ages of 35 and 55—the age range for parents of current teen drivers—admitted to talking on a cellphone regularly while they were driving. Can parents help to prevent teen driving accidents?

Jennifer Ryan, the AAA Director of State Relations, emphasizes just how important it is for parents to set a good examples for their kids: “Most teens are learning important driving skills from watching their parents and they are picking up bad behaviors along with the good ones.” As such, AAA urges parents with teen drivers not only to teach their children about the serious risks of aggressive and distracted driving, but also to show them what good driving looks like by avoiding aggressive and distracted driving behaviors.

Contact a Car Accident Lawyer in San Diego

Do you have questions about filing a car accident claim? An experienced auto accident lawyer in San Diego can assist you. Contact the Walton Law Firm today for more information about seeking compensation for your injuries.

(image courtesy of Anja)

Avoiding Pokémon GO Accidents and Injuries

North County Injury Lawyers — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 01:46:17 GMT

For kids and adults alike, the recent Pokémon GO smartphone game has been an exciting activity around Southern California and throughout the country. However, according to a recent report from Inquisitr.com, the game has also resulted in a number of alarming accidents and injuries. You might have heard about pedestrian accidents caused by distracted walking, but Pokémon GO has taken these collisions to a new level, along with serious distracted driving crashes. The problem is not only one affecting people who play the game. Pokémon GO players—due to extreme distractions from the game—are causing serious accidents that are impacting other pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists who are paying attention to the rules of the road.

What should you know about this new smartphone game, and how can you avoid serious accidents and injuries?

Pokémon GO Causes Accidents in Southern California and Across the U.S.

According to the report, the Pokémon GO app contains a warning to its users, encouraging them to “pay attention to your surroundings as you hunt for Pokémon in the real world.” However, as the report makes clear, this new smartphone game “has proven so engrossing that many of its players are ignoring the warning” to the detriment of themselves and others around them. Some of the accidents and injuries caused by distracted players are minor, including sprained ankles or trivial collisions with trees, doors, or curbs. However, some of the accidents are much more severe, and several have even resulted in life-threatening injuries.

For example, in Southern California, two men “actually walked off a cliff in Encinitas” while engaged in the smartphone game. According to a report from NBC San Diego, lifeguards in the area “reported that someone had fallen off a cliff at E Street around 1:12 p.m.” The Encinitas Fire Department arrived at the scene and found that one man had fallen off a cliff, down about 80 feet to the ground. A second man was discovered around 50 feet beneath the cliff and was unconscious. The men were aged 21 and 22 respectively, and both were rushed to Scripps La Jolla Hospital nearby. In other parts of the country, incidents of similar severity have occurred. For example, an ex-Marine reportedly drove into a tree because he was so distracted by Pokémon GO.

Staying Safe While Playing Games on Your Smartphone

No matter how invested you might be in a smartphone game, you should never use your device while you are driving. Distracted driving, according to Distraction.gov, puts many different people at risk of serious injuries, including drivers, passengers, and bystanders. What can you do to help prevent a Pokémon GO-related accident? According to the Inquisitr report, the American Red Cross has offered some important tips for playing the game safely:

Use battery-saver mode on your smartphone so that you do not have to be looking at your phone constantly; and
Similar to swimming, use the buddy system when you are playing to avoid dangerous areas and to spot potential hazards that might be in your group’s path.

In addition, do not attempt to play Pokémon GO if you are driving. In addition to putting yourself and others at risk of involvement in a serious or even deadly crash, California law prohibits handheld smartphone use for anyone behind the wheel.

If you or someone you know got hurt as a result of distracted driving or other negligent behavior, an experienced San Diego personal injury lawyer can help. Contact the Walton Law Firm today to discuss your case.

(photo courtesy of José María Mateos)