Category: Car Accidents

Philadelphia has a big problem: distracted driving. In fact, 75% of people on Philadelphia-area roads are using their mobile devices while driving, according to a 2018 report issued by the Traveler’s Institute. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that sending or reading a text leads a person to take their eyes off the road for 5 seconds and that, at 55 mph, this means you are essentially driving the full length of a football field with your eyes closed. If three-quarters of drivers in Philadelphia are using their mobile devices while driving, this means that there are far too many drivers operating their vehicles as if their eyes were closed.

Distracted driving is dangerous driving. The NHTSA reports that, in 2017, distracted driving claimed 3,166 lives. Although mobile device-use such as talking, texting, and e-mailing, has become the biggest source of distracted driving, it is not the only one. Anything that takes your full attention away from the road is a distraction. This includes drinking, eating, and interacting with other passengers. Though using a mobile device while driving seems to be the biggest problem for people between the ages of 20 to 37, novice or teenage drivers are found to be distracted by other passengers in the car more often. NHTSA statistics show that a teen driver that has other teen passengers are more likely to crash than if they were driving alone or with an adult passenger.

How Philadelphia Is Fighting the Distracted Driving Problem

Unfortunately, Philadelphia, as well as the entire state of Pennsylvania, has a great deal of room for improvement in its efforts to curb the prominent problem of distracted driving. Like other states, Pennsylvania has enacted a distracted driving law, but many critics say the law does not go nearly as far as it should. 

Pennsylvania’s distracted driving law only bans texting while driving. More specifically, the law prohibits a driver from using an Interactive Wireless Communication Device (IWCD) in order to send, read, or write a text while his or her vehicle is in motion. An IWCD could be anything from a smartphone to a personal digital assistant or any similar type of device that can be used for things such as texting, emailing or internet browsing.

The law prohibits texting while driving as a primary offense. This means that law enforcement officers are empowered to pull someone over specifically for this offense. They do not need the driver to be in violation of another law first. Unfortunately, texting while driving bans are notoriously difficult to enforce and drivers are not often ticketed for this offense. Even if a driver is ticketed for the offense, the violation carries no points as part of the penalty, and it is not recorded on the driver record for non-commercial drivers. 

Contact Our Car Accident Attorney

Distracted driving leads to devastation on the roads. Those who have been the victims of distracted driving often sustain devastating injuries that will impact the rest of their lives. If you have been hurt by a distracted driver, the dedicated personal injury attorneys at Cooper Schall & Levy will fight for you. We will fight for your legal right to be compensated for the harm you have suffered at the hands of a negligent driver. Contact us today.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reports that there were 1,137 traffic fatalities in 2017 alone. That same year, there were 351 reportable traffic crashes every day. This means that about 15 crashes occurred every hour. Additionally, 221 people per day were injured in crashes. This means that someone was injured in a reported traffic crash about every hour. These numbers are scary. Traffic crash injuries are even more common than one might think. In 2017, 1 of every 44 Pennsylvania residents was involved in a traffic crash. This is a stark reminder to do everything you can to stay safe out there on the roads.

A Deadly SUV Crash

On August 19th at about 6:35 pm, Cervantes Santos died after crashing his motorcycle into an SUV in Philadelphia. Surveillance video shows Cervantes’s Agusta Rivale motorcycle heading north on Aramingo before crashing into a Honda SUV as it was turning left from southbound Aramingo onto Venango. Witness Brenda Vazquez, an employee at a store near the crash site, reported that the biker was traveling at a high speed, despite the fact that the area is normally very busy as it is home to many stores and businesses.

Vazquez said that one of her coworkers called 911. Vazquez reported that she saw Santos hit the rear passenger side door of the Honda SUV. The impact sent Vazquez flying. Santos, 32 years of age, was taken to Temple University Hospital, and doctors pronounced him dead at 8:20 pm.

In the Honda SUV that Santos hit, there was a woman and four girls. Vazquez and some of her co-workers went to help the woman and her girls, ages 1-month-old, 5, 9, and 11 years old. She reported the heartbreaking scene when the woman, the mother of the girls, came over to give Vazquez the car seat that had her one-month-old little girl in it. The baby was covered in glass and sustained many little cuts all over. The 34-year-old mom and her girls were taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Doctors listed all of them as being in stable condition.

A tragic and fatal crash that will be a scene not soon forgotten by all involved and those who witnessed the accident and its aftermath. Motorcyclists, remember that you are responsible for following the same rules of the road as cars. This means complying with speed limits and respecting the space of other vehicles. 

Cars, you can never be too careful out there on the roads. Take every possible safety measure. Drive defensively. Make sure that all children who require a car seat or booster seat have one and that they are properly buckled in. Also, make sure to check that all car seats are properly installed in the vehicle. Places like fire stations often have someone on hand who is certified to inspect the safety of car seat installation.

Personal Injury Attorneys

Tragedy on the roads is far too common. Negligent driving practices lead to devastating injuries. If you have been injured due to the negligence of someone else out there on the road, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Cooper Schall & Levy are here for you. Contact us today.