Distracted Driving

Published on: June 2, 2021

Employer Liability for Florida Distracted Driving Accidents

Employers of motorists who cause crashes while distracted by work obligations may be liable to cover the damages of those injured. Florida distracted driving accidents are on the rise. AAA reports distracted drivers caused the deaths of 3,142 people in the U.S. in a single recent year, an uptick of 10 percent from the year before. In this Florida alone, 258 people died that year as a result of crashes caused by drivers who were distracted. That figure is likely underreported given that not all types of distractions are easily identifiable.

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and traffic safety experts have expressed concern about the still-rising number of crashes, placing significant blame on drivers who aren’t paying attention. “Cognitive overload” after participating in back-to-back videoconferencing, along with atrophied driving skills during the pandemic, was cited by several researchers in a recent NBC News report.

It should be noted that F.S. 316.305 prohibits drivers from operating a vehicle while texting, emailing, reading data, instant messaging, etc. for non-voice communication purposes.

Cognitive distractions after a work-related video conferencing may be a very real problem for drivers, but the question in terms of potential legal liability for the employer will be whether the driver was acting in the course and scope of employment at the time of the collision. Continue reading

Published on: November 3, 2011

NTSB Recommends Complete Ban on Cell Phone Use by Truck Drivers

by Leland Garvin

The National Transportation Safety Board has recently recommended that commercial truck drivers be prohibited from using hand-held or hands-free cell phones while behind the wheel.

As Florida trucking accident attorneys we have been following this issue and have come to the conclusion that the NTSB recommendations should be either be made into law or imposed privately by individual carriers. Despite a move last year by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to ban bus and truck drivers from text messaging, several horrific accidents have been blamed on distracted commercial drivers.

According to a report by CNN, the latest proposal comes in the wake of an accident in Kentucky where a 45-year-old trucker is accused of killing 10 people in a van while distracted by a cell phone. The truck in Kentucky crossed the median and slammed into the van, which was on its way to a wedding. An investigation revealed the driver had used his cell phone 69 times in the 24 hours before the accident and used it four times in the minutes before the crash.

Published on: August 25, 2010

Texting and Driving, Still Legal in Florida

by Leland Garvin

During the 2010 Florida Legislative Session, no less than 17 bills were introduced relating to distracted-driving.

Perusing some of these bills, there’s a sad irony in their fates: All were pronounced dead – like many drivers who took their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road.

This despite the number of organizations supporting bans on texting while driving, from the American Medical Association, Florida Justice Association and chat-show queen Oprah Winfrey to, astonishingly, AT&T. And, of course, the Federal Government.