Since distracted driving is fast becoming the number one killer on the roads and with the explosion of traffic congestion in the Boston – D.C. corridor, Southern New England is more and more at risk for unnecessary injuries and even deaths if laws and enforcement can’t keep up with changing behavior patterns.
That said, the ability to nab “offenders” is growing too. 2019 was a crazy year for catching distracted driving in New England, with many drivers recorded first-hand by dashcams, road surveillance, and other drivers.
On Instagram & Twitter, thousands of posts with the hashtag #DistractedDriving call out bad actors every day, just this week these two were shared, one by police dashcam catching an Amazon Driver FaceTiming and another by another vigilant driver:
Distracted Drivers Caught On Video
In August 2019, this video from a dashboard camera from Berlin, MA police shows the moment a car swerved off the road and into a utility pole before flipping over onto its roof. Officers responding to rollover said the driver was texting behind the wheel at the time of the crash.
Distracted driving leads to 1,000 crashes and nine deaths per day in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
In September 2019, this video of a Tesla driver in Massachusetts made national news, the driver was caught on camera asleep at the wheel on the Mass Pike. While the driver was never identified, the video raised awareness of a new kind of distracted driving possible on Massachusetts roadways.
Sadly these won’t be the last
Know the law. Read more about the distracted driving laws in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts laws have placed serious restrictions on what people can do with their phones in their cars and distracted drivers still pose a serious risk to everyone on the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that in 2017 over 3,166 people lost their lives and more than 350,000 were injured in distraction-related crashes.
If you have been injured in a crash due to someone else’s negligence, call lawyers that can handle your distracted driving case, the seasoned professionals at Dussault & Zatir today at 508-999-2000.