You’ve likely experienced Kentucky highways at high traffic intervals, where horns are honking and vehicles are speeding past you, perhaps cutting in left and right to try to move ahead of the pack. Trying to safely reach your destination in such circumstances can be extremely challenging. Current data shows that approximately nine people lose their lives every day throughout the nation in motor vehicle collisions that are entirely avoidable.
Distracted driving is a major problem on Kentucky roads. No matter how cautious you are when you drive, if another motorist is distracted, the result can be disastrous. Distracted driving collisions often lead to catastrophic injuries or worse. If you survive an accident, your recovery time may prove lengthy and arduous. What if you can’t work? What about the exorbitant medical costs you’ll incur? Who should be responsible for your losses? If you know where to seek support, navigating the aftermath of a distracted driving collision may be less stressful.
Distractions that place you most at risk
You can’t control what another driver does. If you’re familiar with signs of driving distraction, however, you may be able to avert a collision. The following list describes three types of distraction that are often found to be causal factors in motor vehicle accidents:
- Lack of cognitive focus: Your eyes may be on the road and your hands may be on the wheel; however, if your mind is elsewhere when you drive, you’re at great risk for collision. Daydreaming, conducting business meetings over the phone, or thinking about what you’re going to have for supper takes your cognitive focus away from the task at-hand and places you and other travelers in harm’s way.
- Visual distraction: Good drivers are always focused on the road ahead, as well as their immediate surroundings. If a motorist is looking off into the distance at an off-road scene or is turning around to look at someone or something in the back seat, he or she is visually distracted and at risk for collision.
- Hands otherwise occupied: When you learned to drive, your instructor likely reminded you to keep both hands on the wheel. Many distracted driving collisions occur when motorists use their hands for tasks other than steering while driving their cars. Adjusting radio knobs, reaching behind their seats, or even eating or drinking while driving creates major distractions that may have tragic results.
Another person’s poor driving choices can turn your uneventful trip to the store or office into a living nightmare that negatively affects the rest of your life. You should not be held fully accountable for the expenses associated with your injuries when another person’s negligence caused the collision.
How to recover losses
Many Kentucky accident victims have been able to replace lost wages during recovery and also meet their medical expenses after filing personal injury claims against distracted drivers.