What Can Be Considered Distracted Driving?

As per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), any activity that diverts a driver’s attention from driving safely constitutes distracted driving. Talking and texting on cell phones are major forms of distraction, but there are others too. Those might consist of eating, programming an infotainment center, personal grooming, talking to passengers or simple daydreaming. All of these forms of distracted driving are perfectly preventable.

Types of Distraction

NC traffic lawyers are well-aware of distracted driving accidents and their aftermath. According to the CDC, there are three main types of driver distraction.

• Visual: These types of distractions occur when drivers take their eyes off of the road. He or she might be inputting information into an infotainment center, looking at a passenger or an exterior distraction like a billboard or an accident in another lane of traffic.
• Manual: When a driver takes one or both hands off of the steering wheel, a manual distraction occurs. This often occurs when a person is texting and driving, attending to a child in the back seat of a vehicle or eating and drinking.
• Cognitive: This can occur when a driver is talking on a phone, to a passenger or the driver is just bored and daydreaming.

Some North Carolina Distracted Driving Statistics

The “new normal” distracted driving statistics from 2020 to the end of 2021 won’t accurately cover what the “old normal” days before 2020 were like, but in 2017, there were a total of 54,133 accidents in North Carolina that were attributable to distracted driving. Of those, there were 25,347 injuries and 152 fatalities. Distracted driving was a factor in just under 20% of all North Carolina accidents that year. For drivers under the age of 18, distracted driving was a factor in just over 27% of all accidents.

North Carolina Laws Against Distracted Driving

North Carolina traffic attorneys are in general agreement that distracted driving laws in the state need revisions that are stricter. North Carolina is a primary enforcement state, and texting while driving is against the law. Drivers over 18 are allowed to send and read texts while legally stopped or parked though. Technically, it might be argued that ou can text and read texts at a red light, but even in that situation, you’re still operating a motor vehicle. Getting off of the road and into a parking lot would appear to be perfectly legal though. Of course, a North Carolina traffic attorney would advise that the most prudent measure would be to not text at all if you’re operating a vehicle.

What’s a Primary Enforcement State?

An NC traffic attorney will advise that a primary enforcement state isn’t going to require an underlying traffic offense like failure to yield the right-of-way before texting while driving can be charged. Based on all the evidence, if a police officer has a reasonable belief that a driver is texting while driving, a citation can be issued.

Companion Convictions

North Carolina traffic lawyers know of countless cases when distracted drivers have caused crashes that have resulted in severe injuries and even deaths. Although NC traffic attorneys might advise you that texting while driving conviction isn’t cause for points against your driver’s license, a companion conviction like disobeying a stop sign or red light will add points and likely affect your insurance premiums too.

With a pile of tickets in hand, the fines and costs on everything spinning off a moment of inattention can get expensive quickly. By hiring a North Carolina traffic lawyer from the Law Office of Tony Huynh you’ll be giving yourself the best possible chance of a satisfactory disposition in traffic court. Make that call to speak with him about your traffic court situation as soon as you can after receiving one or more North Carolina tickets.