Government Study Shows that Texting While Driving is on the Rise

December 13, 2011

Federal officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

reported on December 8, 2011, that

texting while driving increased 50% despite that fact that many states have implemented laws

to ban the practice. The NHTSA surveyed 6,000 driver age 18 or older in

telephone surveys and found that incidence of younger drivers texting

while driving is much more likely than in older drivers.

This increase in texting while driving is troubling given the increased

awareness of the hazards that it presents. Just today it was reported

that a 19 year old driver involved in a deadly collision in Missouri last

year sent or received 11 texts in the 11 minutes before the accident.

His pickup truck ultimately crashed into the back of another vehicle and

caused a chain reaction that resulted in multiple deaths.

As a personal injury law firm in Atlanta, we have seen the devastating

effects that can occur when people text and drive. Aside from serious

personal injuries and

wrongful death, texting while driving can lead to more minor incidents, and ultimately

an increase in insurance premiums, a traffic ticket or possibly the loss

of driving privileges. At Henningsen Injury Attorneys, P.C., we ask that

you simply put the phone down while driving. No text message is more important

than the health and well-being of yourself and others on the roadway.