Texting and Driving; A Bad Combination

By Tracy L. Liberatore Esq, PA

Despite the known risks of texting and driving, many individuals simply cannot resist making their friends and relatives wait until they are no longer driving to respond. While texting is a great way to communicate and keep in touch, even while in a busy meeting, it should be restricted to times when we are not on the road.

Many modern vehicles are now equipped with Bluetooth to allow a driver to answer a call using their steering wheel and car stereo. I was recently a passenger in my mother’s new Nissan Rogue, which also alerts to text messages and will even read the text message to her. Impressive! There does not appear to be a way to respond to the text message as of yet, at least not that she has discovered.

While this might become an issue for confidential messages, it is an advancement for safety; safety of the driver in the car, their passenger, and others on the road.

Despite these new advances in technology, as well as the increased awareness of the dangers, people continue to text and drive.

What the usual member of society does not know about is the duty to other drivers to act as a reasonably prudent person in similar circumstances to drive safely. Texting, like driving under the influence, breaches this duty to other drivers creating liability for the texting driver in the event of an accident.

As an attorney, we are acutely aware of the causal link between texting and driving. When a client comes into your office after being the victim of a car accident where the other driver was texting makes your job a little easier. Especially now that most states make texting and driving illegal.

The problem you are probably facing is whether the injuries sustained were a result of the car accident. You may have received the client’s medical records and noticed a car accident from 10 years ago, or perhaps some other injury in the clients past and need to distinguish between what injuries were sustained in the accident and what is part of the client’s medical history.

This is where a medical legal consultant can help! We can sort through the client’s medical records, both past and present, and determine what injuries are new, what injuries are history, and what conditions, if any, are completely unrelated.

If you are struggling to make sense of your client’s medical records and need help sorting through the old and the new, give us a call! We can easily review the documents, provide a solution to your problem, and allow you to handle the more important aspects of the case, such as filing the appropriate documents with the court before the statute of limitations runs!