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Mobile, Alabama Personal Injury Lawyer Blog | Long & Waite
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Study Shows iPods Cause Potentially Deadly Distraction
People who defend cell phone use while driving claim that many things in the car provide distraction, such as the radio, yet many studies have shown that people who listen to the radio and even sing along actually drive safer than those who do not. The truth is that some level of distraction can keep a driver alert and focused on the task at hand. Even changing radio stations does not necessarily interfere with this. So what about iPods--do they also help drivers?
The important factor in driving is not whether drivers get distracted, but how much and how long they get distracted for. The magic number seems to be 2 seconds. A distraction that causes a driver to take his or her eyes off the road for 2 seconds triples the risk the driver will be in an auto accident. And, according to a University of Massachusetts engineer's soon-to-be-published study, almost every driver who navigated a driving course with an iPod in the car was distracted for a dangerous amount of time at least once. These were experienced drivers who knew how to operate an iPod, and it is likely that teenaged drivers, both less experienced and more into their music, will have even more distraction.
This is more than just an issue of distracted drivers. As auto manufacturers install more gadgets in the car, including built-in iPod docks, they are potentially introducing a dangerous defective product virtually designed to increase the risk of serious personal injury among drivers and those who share the road with them.
If you have been injured by a driver who was distracted by an iPod, cell phone, or other in-car gadget, contact the experienced Mobile, Alabama auto accident attorneys at Long & Waite, Attorneys at Law, P.C. today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
posted by
Dr. Candelaria
at
9:31 AM
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