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October 15, 2019
- Auto Accident Injury
- By Cesar Ornelas
Texting and Driving in the United States
The National Safety Council reports that around 1.6 million car crashes occur in the United States every year as a direct result of people using their cell phones while driving. An estimated 390,000 accidents occur every year due to people being distracted by texting while driving. The council also estimates that around one in every four car accidents throughout the United States is caused due to people texting and driving. The National Conference of State Legislatures states that 48 states, including Texas, have a ban on sending text messages while driving.
Texting and Driving in Texas
According to the Texas Department of Transportation, during 2018, there was a reported 540,561 car crashes in Texas. Around 95,572, or 18%, occurred as a result of distracted driving. There were 394 deaths and 2,340 serious injuries in crashes that were caused by distracted driving.
El Paso, Texas
Throughout El Paso County, there were seven fatal crashes, that killed a total of nine people, caused by distracted driving during 2016. The same year, there was a further 471 injuries of varying severity caused by distracted driving. Cell phone use can be deadly.
San Antonio, Texas
In 2018, San Antonio was the city that had the highest number of accidents caused by texting and driving and other kinds of distracted driving in the entirety of Texas. There was a total of 19,113 accidents where distracted driving was listed as a contributing factor. Of those 19,113 accidents, 33 of them resulted in deaths.
Midland / Odessa, Texas
Midland County was ranked number nine on the list of ten worst large counties for distracted driving, in 2018, by ValuePenguin.
During 2018, the Odessa Police Department attended 212 crashes that occurred due to either distracted driving or texting while driving. It also issued 1,540 citations for speeding, with most of them a result of texting while driving or other distracted driving.
Laredo, Texas
Throughout 2017, local police in Laredo issued close to 3,000 citations for driving while texting. In the first quarter of 2018, police had issued only 500, which shows that the law banning texting and driving in Texas was having the desired effect of reducing the instances of it taking place.
Carlsbad, New Mexico
New Mexico law states it’s illegal to view a text-based message on a mobile device while driving, as well as type on a mobile device when driving. Despite this, there are still many crashes on the city’s roads that occur as a result of distracted drivers.
Cesar Ornelas Law
If you or a loved one have been hit by a distracted driver, our team at Cesar Ornelas Law is available to help you. We have 7 convenient locations for our agents to help you 24/7. Contact Us Today.
Originally from Kyle, Texas, Mr. Ornelas is a first-generation college graduate and a first-generation attorney.
Licensed in Texas, Cesar Ornelas’s nationwide practice is entirely contingency fee-based and consists of a wide variety of catastrophic personal injury and death cases. He has represented countless victims of catastrophic accidents across the United States.
