Texting and driving is prohibited, and all drivers know that it is dangerous. It’s a distraction. It causes accidents that could’ve been avoided. Many people have suffered serious injuries or even lost their lives because another driver was texting behind the wheel.
And yet it continues to happen. Every day, you can probably look over at the cars next to you on the interstate and find drivers who are looking down at their phones as they travel along at 70 miles an hour in a 4,000-pound vehicle. Why would they take this type of risk?
Phones are addictive
One major problem is that cellphones are inherently addictive. In fact, the National Library of Medicine and others claim that more than 6% of Americans are already struggling with smartphone addiction. They identify the highest rates for those who are under 30 years old, where 16% of people are suffering from this type of addiction.
Addiction goes beyond simply using your phone a lot. It is linked to the chemical responses in your brain. Your phone can cause your brain to release dopamine, which evolution has trained it to seek out whenever possible.
If someone who is driving gets a text message, they intellectually know that it is dangerous to read that message. But the chemicals in the brain have them addicted to checking those notifications, and they feel like they have to do so compulsively. They hope it will be safe for a moment, and it often is, but only until they cause a serious accident.
If you’ve been injured in an accident caused by one of these phone-addicted drivers, you need to know how to seek financial compensation for medical bills and other costs.
