Distracted Driving Accidents

The use of personal electronic devices in our cars has caused an increase in car accidents attributed to distracted driving. “Distracted driving” applies to anything that diverts a driver’s attention from the road. Most often, a driver in a distracted driving accident was texting or talking on a cell phone.

Distracted driving accidents killed 3,522 people across the country in 2021 and injured an estimated 324,652 more, according to the most recent stats from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Rhode Island’s law to prohibit texting while driving went into effect in November 2009. Distracted driving is negligent and possibly reckless driving.

Do You Need a Providence Distracted Driver Lawyer?

Gemma Law Associates is committed to aggressively pursuing compensation for those who have suffered serious personal injury or wrongful death in distracted driving car accidents. For more than four decades, the car accident lawyers of Gemma Law Associates have helped victims of negligent and reckless drivers throughout Rhode Island.

Learn about the Types of Distracted Driving

To learn how we can help you, call our Providence distracted driving accident lawyers today toll-free or use our online form. We provide free initial case evaluations.

Distracted Driving Causes Car Accidents

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) recently examined more than 350 studies about distracted driving. Based on that research, the GHSA found that distracted driving is the likely cause of 15 to 25 percent of all U.S. motor vehicle crashes.

Distraction.gov, the official U.S. government website about distracted driving, says drivers who use hand-held devices are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted, the site says.

Anything that takes the driver’s attention from the road is a distraction. In May of 2012, a Rhode Island legislator identified another driver distraction: lap dogs. A bill in the Rhode Island General Assembly would ban dogs from the driver’s seat when their owners are behind the wheel. (AAA said that in a 2023 survey, 31 percent of drivers said they had been distracted by their dogs while driving; 80 percent admitted to driving frequently with their pets, and only 17 percent used a pet restraint such as a seat belt or kennel.)

Rhode Island’s Distracted Driving Laws

Rhode Island made texting while driving illegal in 2009. The state has also prohibited all cell phone use (hand-held and hands-free) by drivers younger than age 18. School bus drivers are not allowed to use any kind of cell phone behind the wheel.

Compensation for Distracted Driving Victims

Distracted driving is among many actions that would be considered careless or negligent operation of a motor vehicle or reckless driving. When a distracted driver causes injury, death, or property damage, the people who have been harmed have a right to be made whole financially.

A Rhode Island resident severely injured in a car or truck accident has the right to pursue a personal injury lawsuit that seeks compensation based on the at-fault driver’s negligence or recklessness. The family of a person killed in a car or truck accident may pursue a wrongful death lawsuit if the at-fault driver was careless or reckless.

The car accident lawyers of Gemma Law Associates prosecute such lawsuits on behalf of accident victims after conducting independent investigations to determine how an accident occurred, who was at fault, and the damage that the victims have suffered.

Contact Our Providence Distracted Driving Accident Lawyers Today

If you have suffered a serious personal injury or the loss of a family member in a car crash attributed to distracted driving, call the car accident lawyers of Gemma Law Associates today. Gemma Law Associates represents distracted driving accident victims and their families across Rhode Island. We help those in Providence, Pawtucket, Newport, Warwick, Cranston, Bristol or Woonsocket. If you’re an out-of-state driver injured in Rhode Island, we can help you, too.

Call the Providence distracted driving accident lawyers of Gemma Law Associates today toll-free or use our online form. We can provide you with a free and confidential evaluation of your case and help you determine your legal options.

Serving the Greater Providence metro area, including Warwick, Cranston, Pawtucket, North Providence, South Kingston, Coventry, Cumberland, Woonsocket, and East Providence.