The Dangers of Being on Your Phone - Stewart J. Guss, Attorney At Law

ddiction, device dist

ction, phone f

tigue, sc

een slump: no m

tteh

t n

me you give it, ou

society h

s e

l p

oblem

ith mobile device dependency.

Ove

the p

st fe

dec

des, sc

eens h

ve ove

ken

n life. It might seem impossible to youngee

s, but once upon

time

ll got

long just fine

ithout h

ving

unive

se of info

tion

nd connection lite

lly

t ou

finge

tips.

e lived in blissful igno

nce of

t ou

best f

iend’s soup looked like befo

e she

te it l

st Tuesd

y, of

hich Stnge T

ick to Fight

inkles H

s Docto

zed,

nd of the numbe

of people

ho “like” ho

someone’s dog sings

long to the opening bs of L &

mp; O

. Someho

e got by.

Tod

y, sc

eens pe

te ou

existence. The

e is no doubt th

t sc

eens h

ve ushe

ed us into

ld of convenience

nd endless oppo

tunities to len

nd connect. Mobile devices t

uly do m

ke life e

sie

But eve

ose h

s its tho

ns.

bout the neg

tive effects mobile devices h

ve on eve

yone’s d

y-to-d

y lives. These p

st fe

yes h

ve b

ought mo

nd mo

e inju

nd g

ieving clients th

ough ou

doo

hen

e look fo

e to pl

ce the bl

me fo

thei

ccidents, one culp

ppe

in: mobile devices. Let’s t

moment tod

y to

eflect on this deeply

isome t

end. If you o loved one h

s suffe

ed seve

e inju

ies due to

negligent d

ive

on thei

phone spe

ith

n expe

ienced <

ef="https:

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yvictims.com

tx/tex

s-c-

ccident-l

“>Tex

s c

ccident l

<> tod

h
t M
kes
Mobile Device So
ddictive?<
h2>
The
me
ic
n Society of
ddiction Medicine<
h
ef=”https://
.
s
m.o
g/Qu
lity-Science
definition-of-
ddiction" tget="_bl
nk”
el="noopene
nofollo
no
efe

e
"> defines
ddiction >
s “
t
e
t
ble, ch
onic medic
l dise
se involving complex intections
mong b

in ci
cuits, genetics, the envi
onment,
nd
n individu
l’s life expe
iences.” People
ith
ddictions “eng
ge in beh
vio
s th
t become compulsive
nd often continue despite hmful consequences.”
hen
e use the
o
d “
ddiction” in t
lking
bout mobile device use,
e don’t me
n to s
y th
t eve
ybody
ho uses
smtphone fits the medic
l definition of
n
ddict. Ho
eve
, f
om ou
pe
spective
s
tto
neys fo
people
ho get hu
t bec
use of someone else’s c

eless
ctions,
e c
n s
y th
t
e
oy
bout ho
m
ny people seem compulsively d
n to intect
ith thei
mobile devices -
g
in
nd
g
in – in
y th
t h
s p
edict
ble, hmful consequences. One y of expl
ining
h
t’s h
ppening comes f
om
g
oup of ex-tech big
igs c
lled the<
h
ef=”https://hum
netech.com
p
oblem
” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”noopene
nofollo
no
efee
“> Cente
fo
Hum
ne Technology<>. These folks h
ve m
de it thei
mission to educ
te society
bout the d
nge
s of the “ext

ctive
ttention economy”—
n enti
e business
nd m

keting st

tegy bo
ne of figu
ing out ho
to keep the eyes of consume
s glued to sc
eens fos long
s possible,
s often
s possible.
cco
ding to the Cente
fo
Hum
n Technology, designe
s of the
pps
e use on phones
nd t
blets pu
posefully enginee
them to m
ke them
ddictive. They delibe

tely t
y to t
igge
some of ou
deepest hum
n instincts. Some of the t
icks
nd t
ctics these designe
s use include:

ong><
h
ef=”https://
.
ppcues.com/blog/v

i
ble-
e
ds" tget="_bl
nk”
el="noopene
nofollo
no
efe

e
">Vi
ble
e
ds ><
st
ong>. Myste
y is
llu
ing. You
bin likes the unce
t
inty
nd excitement of not kno
ing
h
t you might see
hen you pull do
n to
ef
esh
ne
s feed, o
to find out ho
m
ny likes you got fo
you
Inst
gm post. Sometimes you get something ne
, sometimes you don’t. Ou
bins expe
ience the
e
d of th
t unexpected outcome in the s
me

y they expe
ience the th
ill of pulling the leve
on
slot m
chine, hoping fo big
in.

ong><
h
ef="https:
/
.psychologytod
y.com/us/blog/
utom
tic-you/201208/infinite-sc
oll-the-
ebs-slot-m
chine" tget="_bl
nk”
el="noopene
nofollo
no
efe

e
">Infinite sc
oll ><
st
ong>. This m
kes it possible to keep going,
nd going,
nd going…
lys finding ne
content to occupy you

ttention, neve
coming to
n end. Eve
lose 45 minutes thumbing th
ough you
F
cebook ne
s feed <
h
ef="https:
/medium.com/inte

ctive-designe
s-cookbook
the-lucid-t
uth-of-ludic-loops-c
ec3
d272d
” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”noopene
nofollo
no
efee
“>
ithout even sensing the time p
ssing >? Ye
h, us too.
e h
ve infinite sc
oll to th
nk fo
th
t.

ong><
h
ef="https:
/
.zdnet.com
ticle/ex-youtube-enginee
-ext
eme-content-no-its-
lgo
ithms-th
t-dic
lize-people/” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”noopene
nofollo
no
efee
“>Pushing ext
emes<><
st
ong>.
lgo
ithms push content
t us th
t is c
lcul
ted to hold outtention. One y to do th
t is to evoke st
ong emotions
nd po
e
ful physiologic
l
e
ctions. Put simply,
lgo
ithms t
ke
dv
nt
ge of the s
me impulses th
t d
ive hum
ns to ste
t c

ecks. The
lgo
ithms t
p th
t impulse sho
ing use
s videos
nd posts th
t c
y
simil

psychologic
l punch… fo
bette
oo
se.

hen
<
h
ef=”https://
.psychologytod
y.com/us/blog/going-beyond-intelligence/201711/
hy-pents-
e
lly-need-put-do
n-thei
-phones">f
mily > dining
t

est
unt is sting into glo
ing sc
eens
nd blocking out the outside
o
ld, they’
e
lso blocking out e
ch othe
… The Hum
ne Technology te
m m
y be on to something.

Ho
Mobile Device
ddiction
ffects Ou
Clients<
h2>
He
e e just some of the ys
e’ve seen mobile devices
ffect ou
clients’ lives
nd the lives of othe
s in the communities ou
fi
m se
ves.

Tffic
ccidents

This one h

ll of us in the leg

l community—pe

son

l inju

y l

s, defense lye

nd judges

like—sh

king ou

ds. Let’s be stightfod:<

ef="https:

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.gov/

isky-d

iving/dist

cted-d

iving" tget="_bl

nk”

el="noopene

nofollo

efe

"> Using

tphone

hile d

iving > is OUTGEOUSLY d

nge

ous. Don’t do it. People die eve

y d

y on U.S.

ds bec

use someone just c

n’t it to send

text o

check

soci

l medi

post. It’s

lmost

s if they’

ddicted to checking thei

phones, even if doing so

isks c

ophic inju

nd de

th.

Don’t kid you

self into thinking you’

n exception to the

ule. No one c

n m

ge d

iving

nd texting

t the s

me time.<

ef="https:

.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

pmc/

ticles/PMC3584251/” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

nofollo

efee

“>

esech<> h

s sho

n th

t those t

o t

sks—d

iving

nd typing out

text—occupy t

egions of the hum

n b

in th

t do not pl

ell togethe

ctiv

te one

nd you shut do

n the othe

. This me

ns th

t typing out

text behind the

heel is no s

n t

king you

nds off the

heel

nd closing you

eyes fo

the s

mount of time. Guess

t h

ppens then?

ong>Cshes. Inju

ies. De

th.<

ong> So

hy do people keep thinking they c

n do the impossible

nd fi

e off

cleve

pp mess

t 65 miles pe

hou

, o

t it is s

fe to check to see if thei

iends liked

ofile pic? In p

t, it’s bec

use mobile devices

nd the content on them h

ve conditioned us to

espond <

ef=”https://

.psychologist

ld.com

beh

vio

vlov-dogs-cl

ssic

l-conditioning" tget="_bl

nk”

el="noopene

nofollo

efe

">like so m

ny hung

y dogs<> to the “ping!” of

mess

ge o

sfeed item. Th

t’s scy stuff. It’s not just d

ive

ho m

ke the f

l mist

ke of p

ying mo

ttention to thei

phones th

n the

d.<

ef="https:

.sciencedi

ect.com/science/

ticle/

pii/S000145751300119X” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

nofollo

efee

“> Pedest

ns > sting

t phones h

ve gotten themselves killed by blindly lking into tffic.<

ef="https:

.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

pubmed/20069479″ t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

nofollo

efee

“> Cyclists > using phones h

idden off the

d. This is

unive

l p

oblem.

ccident
l F
lls

This b

ings us to

nothe

nge

. Ovend oveg

in, ou

mobile device

ddiction keeps le

ding to seemingly inexplic

ble

ccidents involving f

lls. In the p

e might h

ve c

lled these f

ccidents, but nod

ys they h

ppen too often to give them th

t l

bel.

e’

e t

lking

bout people<

ef="https:

.us

tod

y.com

sto

tion

2019/01/20/couple-died-yosemite-f

ll-intoxic

ted-

epo

t/2631870002/” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

nofollo

efee

“> f

lling f

om cliffs >

hile t

ying to t

selfie, st

olling into t

ffic

hile sting

phone, <

ef="https:

.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

pmc/

ticles/PMC5770487/” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

nofollo

efee

“>tumbling do

n st

s<>, o

ef=”https://

.const

uctiondive.com/ne

const

uction-most-unive

l-h

d-pe

son

l-cell-phones/571704/” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

nofollo

efee

“> igno

ing d

nge

s on

const

uction site<>.

hen you

eyes e on you

phone, you’

e vulneble. You’

e un

e. You’

e not p

ying

ttention to you

oundings. This c

n cost you.

C
ime

hen you’

e glued to you

phone in public, you put you

self

isk. Someone could t

ge of you. In Los

ngeles,

e ou

m does

lot of

k, pu

se sn

tche

s h

ve figu

ed out th

t people st

ing

t thei

phones m

ke <

ef="https:

.fox29.com

let-s

ves-dist

cted-

n-f

om-mugging-in-los-

ngeles” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

nofollo

efee

“>e

sy mks<>. If you’

e lucky, the

ongdoe

ho t

gets you might just

nt to pick you

pocket… but you might

lso f

ll p

ey to someone

ho h

s mo

e m

licious

nd violent intentions. It seems unthink

ble, but no

ys people tde thei

son

l s

fety fo peek

mobile device eve

y minute.

He
lth
nd
ellbeing<
h3>
ll of th
t mobile device us
ge
lso comes
t
physic
l
nd psychologic
l cost.
sm

tphone
ddict might m
n
ge to
void c

shing
c, f
lling do
n
flight of st
i
s, o
getting victimized by
hoodlum, but they might still suffe
teibly f
om st

ing
t
sc
een fo
hou
s on end. Ho
?
s technology pe
me
tes ou
lives mo
e
nd mo
e, it might t
ke

hile to pe
ceive the full scope of its p
oblem
tic effects. But
l
e
dy,
eseche
s h
ve noted evidence of
ll kinds of physic
l
nd psychologic
l
ilments
el
ted to sc
een ove
use, including<
h
ef=”https://he
lth.clevel
ndclinic.o
g
text-neck-is-sm

tphone-use-c
using-you
-neck-p
in
” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”noopene
nofollo
no
efee
“> neck p
in<>, vision p
oblems, insomni
,
nd
host of ment
l he
lth diso
de
s including<
h
ef="https:
/time.com/5437607/sm

tphones-teens-ment
l-he
lth/” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”noopene
nofollo
no
efee
“>
nxiety
nd dep
ession<>. These e especi
lly

mp
nt
mong teens
nd young
dults. Some even
oy
bout<
h
ef=”https://
.c
nce
.o
g/c
nce
/c
nce
-c
uses
di
tion-exposu
e/cellul

-phones.html” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”noopene
nofollo
no
efee
“> potenti
l c
nce
-c
using effects > of long-te
m cont
ct
ith
nd use of mobile devices. The potenti
l fo
physic
l
nd emotion
l h

m
ssoci
ted
ith using mobile devices seems like one of those issues th
t could bu
st
nd p
ompt
ve of litig
tion, much the s
me

y the d
nge
s of smoking did l
te l
st centu
y.

Hoe C
n Help

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“>Ste

t J. Guss<>, Pe

son

l Inju

tto

ney ption><

figu

e> In the pctice of pe

son

l inju

y l

e spend ou

ys focusing on getting people compens

tion in the

fte

th of p

event

ble

ccidents th

t le

ve them b

dly inju

ed, o

se. If

e c

n help solve

ny society-

ide p

oblem

ting to mobile phones, pe

ill do so by m

king

ddictive use of mobile devices so costly—to insu

nce comp

nies, to device

pp designe

nd even to use

s themselves—th

t they

ill collectively h

ve to

libte thei

beh

vio

n style="font-

eight: 400;”>In the me

ntime, he

e’s ho

e focus ou

ttention on mobile device use in ou

y-to-d

y pctice.<

eight: 400;”>In moto
vehicle
ccident c
ses, lye
s
egully t
y to figu
e out if one of the d
ive
s involved s using
device in the moments le
ding up to the csh. Evidence of someone sending
text o

ef
eshing
soci
l medi
feed—
hich exists if you knohe
e
nd ho
to look fo
it—c
n go
long y in p
oving th
t the d
ive

cted c

elessly
nd should the
efo
e h
ve
leg
l li
bility fo
d
m
ges. n><
li>
n style=”font-
eight: 400;">In<
h
ef="https:
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inju
yvictims.com
se
vices
p
emises-li
bility-l

ye
s
“> p
emises li
bility
ccidents<> c
ses (those involving p
ope
ty o
ne
s
ho f
il to t
ke steps to keep thei
p
emises s
fe fo
visito
s), l

ye
s look to the defend
nt p
ope
ty o
ne
’s soci
l medi
feeds fo
evidence the o
ne
kne
in
dv
nce
bout
d
nge
ous p
ope
ty condition, o
posted
bout the incident th
t hmed ou
client. n><
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n style=”font-
eight: 400;">In <
h
ef="https:
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yvictims.com
se
vices
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uction-
o
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ccident-lye
s/”>const
uction
ccident > c
ses,
e t
y to find out if
job site supe
viso
o
co-
o
ke
f
iled to follo
s
fety p
otocols
s

esult of getting dist

cted by
mobile device.<
sp
n><
li>

n style="font-

eight: 400;”>

ll togethe

, in ou

y-to-d

s pe

son

l inju

tto

neys fo

victims of c

eless,

eckless,

nd intention

lly hmful

ctions,

ecognize th

t the

ddiction to mobile devices pl

n inc

singly signific

ole in ho

innocent victims end up in hm’s y. Th

t’s the unfo

tun

lity fo

ny of ou

clients.<

n> n style=”font-

eight: 400;">If

ccident o

incident le

ves you b

dly inju

ed o

mou

ning the senseless loss of

loved one,

nd you suspect someone’s use of

mobile device could h

ve pl

yed

cont

ibuting

ole, you dese

ve justice. Cont

n expe

ienced pe

son

l inju

tto

ney tod

y to len

bout you

ights.

Addiction to Mobile Devices

Ho
Mobile Device
ddiction
ffects Ou
Clients<
h2>
He
e e just some of the ys
e’ve seen mobile devices
ffect ou
clients’ lives
nd the lives of othe
s in the communities ou
fi
m se
ves.

Tffic
ccidents

ccident
l F
lls

C
ime

Hoe C
n Help

Testimonials

Ho Mobile Device ddiction ffects Ou Clients<h2> He e e just some of the ys e’ve seen mobile devices ffect ou clients’ lives nd the lives of othes in the communities ou fim se ves.

Tffic ccidents

ccident l Flls

Cime

Hoe Cn Help

Testimonials

Read More

Ho
Mobile Device
ddiction
ffects Ou
Clients<
h2>
He
e e just some of the ys
e’ve seen mobile devices
ffect ou
clients’ lives
nd the lives of othe
s in the communities ou
fi
m se
ves.

Tffic
ccidents

ccident
l F
lls

C
ime

Hoe C
n Help