Automobile accidents in and around Huntsville and Alabama are a daily occurence. Just a few days ago, a teen girl was killed on I-65 in a crash with an 18-wheeler. The Shelby County coroner said that she was texting at the time of the crash. Across the country, there are millions of accidents every year. In 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash statistics show that that there were over 6 million accidents with over 1.6 million involving injury and death.
A great many of those accidents involved “distracted driving.” That is a term describing any activity that “… diverts attention from driving —anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving.” See here. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) states that “[d]istracted driving is dangerous, claiming 3,477 lives in 2015 alone.” In 2015, there were 391,000 accidents involving distracted drivers. See here. According to the NHTSA, there were over 391,000 wrecks and collisions involving distracted driving. Common examples of distracted driving include:
- Texting
- Livestreaming while driving
- Talking on your phone while driving
- Focusing on interior devices such as GPS, radio, video players and similar
- Eating
- Putting on makeup
- Interacting with unrestrained animals in the car
- Arguing or engaging with passengers
- And more
Any of these activities are potentially distracting the driver from his or her duty to pay full attention to driving. If you have been injured by a distracted driver in Huntsville, in Madison County or anywhere else in Alabama, you will need a talented and experienced Huntsville auto accident attorney like the ones at Hornsby, Watson, Hornsby & Heyward. We are proven. Here is some basic information on car accidents caused by distracted driving.
Proving Distracted Driving in Huntsville
Your experienced Huntsville, Alabama automobile accident lawyers will use the following types of evidence to prove that the driver that caused your injures was distracted:
- Eye-witness testimony: This can come from other drivers, police, and others who saw the accident or who were present on the scene – for example, eye-witness testimony of unrestrained animals in the car or at the scene or another driver who saw the negligent driver using his/her phone
- Phone records: If the negligent driver was texting or talking on his/her phone, that will be shown in the phone records and is some proof that the driver was distracted
- Internal cameras: Many new cars have internal dash-cams and many drivers are having them installed as theft-prevention devices
- External cameras: External cameras on your car and the driver’s car can sometimes provide evidence of distracted driving
- Street cameras: Street cameras can also sometimes provide evidence of distracted driving
- Police report: If the police report shows evidence of distracted driving that can be used under some circumstances as evidence
Duty of Care in Huntsville, Alabama
Here in Huntsville, all drivers are under a duty to exercise “reasonable care” when driving or using a road or public highway to avoid inflicting injury or causing damage to others. Alabama courts have defined “reasonable care” to mean “such care as a reasonably prudent person would exercise under the same or similar circumstances.” See APJI 26.00 Duty Owed by Operator of Motor Vehicle. Failure to keep a proper lookout is an example of failure to exercise reasonable care.
Distracted driving is almost always the failure to keep a proper lookout. All of the foregoing types of evidence can show that the careless driver that caused you injury was negligence.
Contact Our Huntsville, Alabama Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers
If you or someone you love has been injured or killed in an automobile accident in Huntsville, in Madison County, or anywhere else in Alabama, contact an experienced Huntsville automobile accident attorney like the ones at Hornsby, Watson, Hornsby & Heyward. If you have been injured, you have a right to be compensated for your injuries. Acting quickly is important. Hornsby, Watson, Hornsby & Heyward must act now to prevent despoilation and destruction of the evidence necessary to prove your case. You can email us or call (256) 414-9803, toll free (866) 986-1371.