Insurance Report: Web Surfing While Driving is on the Rise

It’s common knowledge that texting while driving is dangerous. Our personal injury attorneys know, however, that despite widespread acknowledgement of the perils of texting while operating a vehicle, the reckless practice remains too common.

Well, no longer are the dangers confined to the practice of texting while driving; a new report from State Farm Insurance Company has concluded that, based on four years worth of data, the rate of internet surfing by individuals operating a motor vehicle is rapidly on the rise. Perhaps the most startling statistic was that of individuals in the age group of 18-29 (which includes drivers that are statistically the most prone to crashes), just about 50% of respondents claimed to have surfed the web while driving.

So, what does this mean? This means that instead of just dangerously responding “LOL,” or “Be there soon,” or even “I will call you after the meeting,” people are now typing in long URLs, posing complicated questions to Google, and even engaging in online shopping! It goes without saying, but we will say it anyway: web surfing from your mobile device while you’re driving is incredibly dangerous. It multiplies the already extreme dangers inherent to texting and driving.

In fact, according to https://www.moneysavingpro.com/smartphones/texting-and-driving/ research, whereas simply reaching for a mobile device increases the risk of crashing by 1.4X, texting and driving increases the rate by 23X! With such a dramatic jump in the likelihood of a crash between reaching for a device and mindlessly texting a short response, imagine what the likelihood of crashing is when you go from just texting to actually conducting research (regardless of what kind) on the Internet from a mobile device while driving.

Despite the ever-increasing number of car crashes due to distracted drivers (and legislation aimed at curbing the problem), cell phone use while driving remains a significant issue, especially here in Florida. Furthermore, in spite of the increasingly useful technology manifesting itself in services such as Apple’s “Siri” and other voice-command applications, people continue to type away at their phones, even at the most dangerous of times.

Earlier this fall, a new Florida law banning texting while driving went into effect. Despite the colloquial title of the law, the actual law, available here, includes a ban on “manually typing or entering multiple letters, numbers, symbols, or other characters into a wireless communications device…” while driving. This includes both texting and driving and web surfing. Additionally, the law goes on to state that even reading off of a mobile device while driving is illegal, meaning that if you pulled up a website on the walk to your car and then were just reading it while driving, you are breaking the law.

Using cell phones while driving leads to distracted driving and distracted driving is dangerous driving. By using your cell phone while you’re behind the wheel of a car, you risk your own life and also the lives of the other motorists on the road.

If you have been injured due to the distracted driving of another individual, please reach out to us for a free consultation. We’re experienced personal injury attorneys who know the law and know how to apply it to your case in order to help you obtain the compensation you deserve.

To schedule your free consultation, please give us a call at 561-266-9191 or email us at daronberg@build.simple.biz.

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