What Are the Dangers of Multitasking While Driving?
Sometimes when you’re behind the wheel, you feel like you can do more than just drive your car. You might need to get other things done than driving from one place to another and choose to multitask while driving. Whether you’re eating, putting on makeup, or texting your friend that you’re on your way, multitasking behind the wheel can be dangerous, and is actually illegal.
If you’ve been in an accident with a distracted driver, you might be interested in taking legal action to hold them accountable for their actions. With the help of a car accident lawyer from Golden Law Office, you can have peace of mind knowing that your rights will be protected. We’ll fully investigate what happened so that we can get you the full and fair compensation that you deserve.
Is Multitasking Just Distracted Driving?
The thing about multitasking is that you’re not actually focusing on multiple tasks at once like you think you are—you’re focusing on one task and ignoring all others until your focus shifts again because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. So what does this mean while you’re driving? Performing other tasks while behind the wheel of a car would mean that you’re not focusing on the road anymore, but instead would be concentrating on the other thing you’re doing, which could increase your chances of causing an accident.
A study published by Frontiers in Psychology, any visual, motor, or mental activity that you do while driving takes your attention away from the road and negatively impacts your ability to drive. The study suggested that listening to the radio at a reasonable volume is okay, and could actually improve your abilities, but nearly any other action would make it worse.
Adjusting the radio, using a cell phone, eating, putting on makeup, or even falling into deep thought can all be considered distractions that decrease your attention on the road and increase your chances of getting into an accident. The study found that visual distractions posed the biggest threat to drivers’ abilities. They reported that even glances at tablets while driving can have a negative impact on a driver’s attention to the road.
Kentucky Distracted Driving Laws
Since multitasking doesn’t really exist, that means that doing so behind the wheel is really just distracted driving. In Kentucky, distracted driving is illegal, and you can get pulled over for it. More specifically, most of the legislature around distracted driving is focused on cell phone use. It is illegal to text and drive in our state.
Early last year, House Bill 255 was introduced to make those laws even more strict. This would prohibit the use of all electronic communication devices behind the wheel. Devices would still be allowed to be used for navigation, and minimal use would be allowed to set up hands-free calls, but otherwise, any use of the device for texting, calling, or use would be illegal.
However, just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it will stop people from doing it. Using a cell phone or doing anything else that takes your focus from the road is dangerous—and can even be deadly. That’s why it’s important to always follow the law and pay attention to the road in front of you.
Golden Law Office Can Help
If another driver wasn’t paying attention to the task at hand and caused an accident with you, then you could recover compensation for the injuries and damages that they caused you. At Golden Law Office, we are here to help you file a claim against the negligent driver and hold them accountable for their actions.
With one of our car accident lawyers on your side, you can have peace of mind knowing that an experienced attorney is looking at your case and will fully investigate what happened, who was at fault, and the amount of damages that you are owed for your losses. We will fight to get you the full and fair compensation that you deserve. Reach out to our office today so that we can get started on your claim.
Golden Law is a local, Kentucky Law Firm, attorneys/lawyers in Fayette County, Kentucky, working in the fields of personal injury, auto accidents, car and truck wrecks; medical malpractice: doctors, hospitals & nursing homes; senior living abuse: neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse, dehydration, bedsores, catastrophic injuries, and broken bones. If you are considering a lawsuit, call us at 859.469.5000 for a free consultation. We are located at 771 Corporate Dr. Suite 800/ Lexington, Kentucky 40503. We handle cases all over the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We have represented and trained people in major insurance companies & major trucking companies. We have first hand experience and know the ‘inside of the insurance business’ … that’s a distinction that no other law firm can make. We’re Your Advocate. Dale Golden, Laraclay Parker.
