It’s a familiar sight for frequent highway drivers: spotting another driver apparently in conversation, yet no one else is visible in their car. As you draw closer, it becomes evident they’re on a cell phone. Sometimes, it’s worse—they’re not just talking but attempting to text while navigating at highway speeds. The modern world’s constant connectivity often makes people feel compelled to stay glued to their phones. Unfortunately, statistics have proven people cannot communicate on phones and drive a vehicle safely at the same time. Consequently, this mistake leads to recurrent risks, affecting not just the individual but also other drivers on the road repeatedly.
Colorado’s Prohibition on Phone Use While Driving
Colorado, like many states, has passed laws making it illegal for drivers on public roads to hold their cell phones for texting when driving. However, while minors under age 18 shouldn’t have a phone at all in their hands, there are different rules for adults. In either case, however, Colorado drivers have a poor performance record driving successfully while being distracted.
In 2022, 72 people were killed in Colorado car accidents, with the state experiencing over 15,000 reported incidents. The specific correlation between those incidents and cell phone use remains uncertain, but multiple surveys consistently indicate that up to half of the drivers surveyed admit to using their phones while driving. However, enforcement hasn’t kept pace with this issue. In that same year, Colorado law enforcement issued only 138 citations for phone misuse while driving. In essence, the regulatory efforts haven’t been as proactive as necessary to effectively reduce cell phone use while operating vehicles.
How Then to Prove Accident Responsibility?
Car accident lawyers, such as those at Killian Law, have various options at their disposal when representing accident victims and ensuring accountability for responsible parties. The discovery process, by which an attorney can obtain documentation under court order, allows a plaintiff’s attorney to access the phone records of those responsible. This is also something that law enforcement can gain access to as well if a criminal action was involved in the same accident. The totality of the documentation can not only show the cell use activity, whether voice or texting, but it can also show when that activity occurred, which can then be compared to the time and place of the accident the moments before. As a result, the information provides very solid evidence of phone misuse when driving.
Don’t Hand Over Your Rights in an Accident
Without extensive control, the world will continue to generate scenarios where individuals engage in avoidable actions due to lapses in judgment. However, a driver involved in a car accident caused by phone use retains rights that can be safeguarded. Instead of dismissing a car accident as merely statistical, if the other driver was distracted by their phone rather than focusing on the road, they should be held accountable.
