How is Texting Identified as the Cause of a Car Accident?

 Posted on July 26, 2017 in Personal Injury

Statistics of texting while driving are consistently being thrown out into the public: one in four accidents are due to texting, texting is six times more likely to cause an accident than drunk driving, and 330,000 injuries are caused due to texting while driving. Those are just a few of the statistics put out by the National Safety Council and other prominent organizations.

Cell phone usage and driving do not mix, and the combination has become a national epidemic—one that lawmakers and law enforcement officers work tirelessly to combat. After an accident occurred, how can anyone know for sure that texting was the sole cause?

Texting Drivers Are Liable

In all 50 states, Illinois included, drivers have the requirement to uphold a standard duty of care while driving on the road. It is the responsibility of each driver to obey the rules of the road to ensure the safety of other drivers. Texting and other forms of distracted driving are a prime example of failure to uphold their duties, which is also known as negligence. When a driver is found negligent of his or her duties, he or she becomes responsible for the financial cost of all of the damages.

Make a Claim and Prove It

If you believe that an accident you sustained injuries from occurred because another driver was texting and driving, the next step is to prove it. Having an attorney that is familiar with similar cases makes the process easier. While some drivers do come out and admit they were using their cell phone at the time of the accident, others will create a false testimony to conceal their wrongdoing. Obtaining phone records is possible through the usage of a subpoena, but they do not give the whole story by excluding web usage details. Warrants to take the phone will provide better evidence, but there is a complex legal system in place to obtain such a permit. Other useful pieces of information include:

• Police reports;
• Photographs;
• Videos; and
• Eyewitness reports.

Textalyzer Coming Soon

There is a new program, known as the textalyzer, that operates similarly to the breathalyzer, although a few kinks in the system need to be worked out. The officer responding to the scene of an accident will have the capability to attach a cord to each driver’s cell phone, and in less than 90 seconds a snapshot will be taken of all recent activity on the phone, including text and web usage, along with a time stamp. On the other side of the spectrum, mobile phone companies are hard at work creating an update that disables a phone while in a car. Until then, leave the discovery of proof to a proven attorney.

If you would like to discuss your car accident case with a DuPage County, IL car accident injury attorney, contact Mevorah & Giglio Law Offices. Call us today at 630-932-9100 to schedule your free consultation at one of our 3 convenient locations in Bloomingdale, Naperville, and Lombard.