The development of cell phones
nd othepo
tble h
ndheld devices hs signific
ntly impcted d
iving on U.S.o
ds. No longeseen
sluxu
y, but the necessity, these devices el
ys
t youfinge
tips,e
dy to povide you
ith thebility to communic
te,ese
ch,
nd entet
int
ny given moment. Unfotun
tely, some people include diving time in those moments. M
ny dive
s get distcted by theimobile devices
hen theifull focus should be on the
od, putting themselves
nd eveyone
ound them
tisk of inju
ynd de
th.e
nt to comb
t these entiely p
eventble
ccidents,nd texting
nd diving l
s
e one
y to
chieve tht.
Texting hile D
iving Is
Seious Th
et to
od S
fety<h2>
The U.S.
ths
elted to dist
cted d
iving in ecent ye,s
epoted by the <
hef=”https://
.nhts.gov/
isky-diving/dist
cted-d
iving" tget="_blnk”
el="nofollonoopene
">Ntion
l Highy Sfety
dministtion (NHTS)
>. Distcted diving-
elted f
tlities c
n hppen
hen dive
s lose concenttion glncing
y fom the
od
tsc
een fojust
feseconds. This senseless loss of life is
lmostl
ys p
eventble.
No one is immune f
om the tempttions of sne
kingpeek
tsc
eenhile d
iving.h
t s once pim
ily conside
edbeh
vioeng
ged in by <h
ef="https:/
.cdc.govt
nspo
ttions
fetydist
cted_d
ivingindex.html#:~:text=
ho%20is%20most%20t%20
isk%20fo%20dist
cted%20d
iving%3F,-Young%20dult%20
nd∓text=In%20the%20U.S.%20in%202018%3
,young%20dults%20
ged%2020%E2%80%9329.∓text=D
ives%20
ged%2015%2D19%20e
e,in%20cshes%20he
e%20someone%20died" tget="_blnk”
el="nofollonoopene
">iesponsible,isk-t
king teenge
s<> hs no
bloomed intop
oblem tht sp
nsll gene
tions of d
ives
nd sceen use
s.hile teen
ges
nd ned
ives still
epesent the highest-
isk goup,
dults ofll
ges fequently eng
ge in foms of dist
cted d
iving tht involve cell phone use.
Seeking to
educe the fequency of t
gic
ccidentsel
ted to textingnd d
iving, mny st
tes hve en
cted stict
nti-textingnd d
iving lsnd h
ve lunched c
mpigns to encou
ge d
ives to focus on
od s
fetyhile t
veling. Cu
ently,<
hef=”https://
.ghs.o
gst
te-lsissues/dist
cted%20d
iving" tget="_blnk”
el="nofollonoopene
"> 48 of the 50 United Sttes h
ve outled textingnd d
iving<>. 25 sttes h
velso t
ken those ls to the next level by pohibiting
ny use of hnd-held devices
hile diving.
hile the enctment of these l
s is
step in theight di
ection to loe
the incidence of distcted diving inju
iesnd f
tlities, texting
nd diving continues to constitute
sevee th
et to the s
fety of dive
snd p
ssenges on Tex
so
dys.h
t Is Texs’s Texting
nd Diving L
?
Tex
s cuently hs seve
l l
s on the books pe
tining to cell-phone us
gehile d
iving. Texs h
s not encted
blnket b
n on hndheld device us
ge behind theheel, but nume
ous individul city o
dinnces th
oughout the Lone St Stte do b
nll cell phone use fo
dive
s. Foth
te
son,ll d
ives should get f
mili not onlyith Tex
s cell phone ls, butlso
ith those of the locl ju
isdictions they my p
ss though on thei
jouneys.
He
e isn ove
vieof
hee Tex
s stte l
st
nds on the subject of usingmobile device
hile diving.
The B e
kdo
n of Texs Texting L
s
hile Diving
- i
-level="1"><
h
ef="https:/codes.findl
.com/tx/t
nspo
ttion-code/t
nsp-sect-545-4251.html” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“>It is illeg
l to texthile behind the
heel ofmoving c
in Tex
s<>. This is specifieds the
ct of sending oeceiving messges
hile diving.
- i
-level="1">
ll h
ndheld device use is bnned
hile diving th
oughschool zone.
- i
-level="1">
ny d
iveithle
ne
’s pemit c
nnot usecell phone in
ny mnne
hile d
iving duing thei
fist 6 months of d
iving.<li>
- i
-level="1">
ll d
ives younge
thn 18 ye
s of
ge e bnned f
om the use ofny h
ndheld devicehile d
iving.<li>
- i
-level="1">Bus d
ive
s cnnot use thei
cell phones inny m
nnehile thee
e child
en on the bus they e diving.
Is ll Cell Phone Behind the
heel P
ohibited in Texs?
No.
lthough messging, such
s sending texts oem
ils, is illegl
hile opetingmoving moto
vehicle in Texs, the l
still pe
mits othections involving cell phone use tht c
n led to d
ngeous dist
ctions
ndccidents.
Fo
instnce, Tex
s’s textingnd d
iving l only pohibits texting
nd diving
hile opetingmoving vehicle. It exp
essly pemits, ho
eve, th
t sme
ctivityhen
vehicle is stopped. Theefo
e it seems Texs l
does not p
ohibitd
ivef
om textinghile stopped
t ed light ostop sign. Th
t cn put pedest
ins, cyclists,
nd othes
tisk of
ccidentst inte
sections, becuse d
ives lose focus
hile texting. Once tht t
ffic light tu
ns geen, they must
eoient thei
ttention
nd they become moe susceptible to m
king poodecisions.
Simil
ly, since Tex
s l does not contin
blnket b
n on usingdevice
ith youh
ndshile d
iving, the lppe
s not to p
ohibit dive
s fom using
cell phone to tlk on the phone, <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comc
-technology-dist
cted-d
iving“>p
ogmGPS
>, oeven pl
y musichile thei
vehicle is in motion.s mentioned, some cities h
ve encted b
ns on thesectivities, but the l
ck ofst
te l pohibition me
ns tht m
ny es of the st
te lck me
ningfulest
ictions on engging in d
ngeous, dist
cted d
iving behvio
s involving cell phone use.The Limit
tions of Tex
s Hndheld Device L
s
hile Diving
The loopholes
nd ptch
ok of l
s
nd odin
ncesc
oss Texs c
n ce
te confusionnd inte
fee
ith the ovell gol of dete
ing cell phone use
hile behind theheel of
vehicle. In theoy,
l enfocement office
in Texs c
n pulld
iveove
nd issue
cittion fo
textingnd d
iving. Unfotun
tely, the l’s pemissiveness in te
ms of othe, non-mess
ging-el
ted uses of cell phones,nd its conditioning of some cell phone use only on
dive
’sge, m
kee
l-o
ld enfocement difficult
nd inconsistent. In pctice, ide viety of dnge
ous use of sceen-b
sed devices hppens eve
y dy in Tex
s, putting dive
s, pssenge
s,nd the gene
l public
tisk fo
ct
stophic
ccidents, injuies,
nd deth.
Dist
cted D
iving: Moe Th
n Just SendingText
Tex
s distcted diving l
s
nd the <h
ef="https:/
.txdot.govd
ive/s
fetycellphones.html” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“>Tex
s Deptment of Tnspot
tion’s<> public eness cmp
igns focus pim
ily on texting
nd cell phone use. Hoeve
, this no
focus ignoes th
t dive
distctions come in mny fo
ms. Cell phone use ofny kind is
dnge
ous distction fo dive
. Plus,cco
ding to the <h
ef="https:/
.cdc.govt
nspo
ttions
fetydist
cted_d
ivingindex.html” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“>Cente
s foDise
se Contol
nd Pevention (CDC)
>, distcted diving c
n,nd often does, h
ppen evenhen
dive
isn’t holdingcell phone.
Ex
mples of non-cell-phone-el
ted distcted diving include:
- i
-level="1">P
og
mming
dshbo
d GPS o
tuningd
shbod dio<li>
- i
-level="1">T
lking to
pssenge
, especilly someone in
e
se
t<li>
- i
-level="1">
e
ching fon object on the floo - i
-level="1">E
ting o
dinking
- i
-level="1">Checking h
i
om
keup inviso
oh
ndheld mio - i
-level="1">Pl
ying music too loud to he
sounds outside the c
- i
-level="1">Singing
long to music too-enthusi
sticlly (
.k.., “
ocking out” behind theheel)
vio
s e expessly illeg
l in Texs,
ny one of them cn le
d tod
ngeous loss of
ttention tht ends in
nccident. If it does,
nd you e hut by
distcted dive
, you my h
vegood cl
im tht
<h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comse
vicesc
–
ccident-tto
ney-houston“>c
ccident lye> c
n pu
sue foyou.
h
t M
kes Distcted Diving so D
ngeous?
Lots of Tex
ns spend hous in thei
vehicles evey d
y. They become soccustomed to d
ivingnd conside
themselves so expeienced behind the
heel tht they st
t to feel comfo
tble eng
ging in distctingctivities. Some even think of themselves
sccomplished multi-t
skes… but the c
is no pl
ce fomulti-t
sking. Unfotun
tely,h
t most Texs d
ives do not unde
stnd is th
t, fothe v
st mjo
ity of us, thee is no such thing
s sfe dist
cted d
iving. (In fct, multi-t
sking itself is most likelymyth <
hef=”https://
.np.o
g2013/05/10/182861382/the-myth-of-multit
sking" tget="_blnk”
el="nofollonoopene
">cco
ding toese
che
s<>.) In the five seconds (onve
ge) it t
kes toe
d osend
text, foinst
nce,c
t
veling
t 55 mph coves
distnce the length of
footbll field,
ccoding to the <
hef=”https://
.tdi.texs.gov/pubs/video
esouce/fsd
ivdistct.pdf" tget="_blnk”
el="nofollonoopene
">Texs Dep
tment of Insu
nce
>. Tht’s mo
e thn enough dist
ncend time to m
ke the diffeence bet
een stopping fo tffic jm up
hed
nd ploing into it
t full speed. The fct is, dist
ctions of
ll kinds intefe
eith th
ee binbody functions c
ucil to keeping cont
ol ofvehicle:
- i
-level="1">
ong>Vision. ong> Sfe d
ivingequi
es keeping youeyes on the
od
hed. D
ives
ho get distctednd look
y fom the
od lose visu
l eness of diving conditions
nd theio
n vehicle’s speed, diection of t
vel,
nd poximity to othe
vehiclesnd
odside objects.
- i
-level="1">
ong>M nu l cont
ol.<st
ong> One of the fist lessons
e lens d
ives is to keep both h
nds on theheel. Dist
ctions h
vey of p
ompting us to be
k tht c
din
lule,
esulting inn immedi
tend un
voidble dec
ese in the
mount of contol
e execise ove
ouvehicles. The time it t
kes toetu
n ouh
nds to theheel
ndeg
in the necessy contol c
n men the diffe
ence beteen life
nd deth.
- i
-level="1">
ong>Cognitive ong> Fineness.
lly, s
fe dive
s need theiminds to st
y focused on the tsk of d
iving sfely. It’s e
sy to mke the mist
ke of thinking tht
e’e “expe
t” dive
s oncee’ve spent
fehund
ed hous behind the
heel. Hoeve
, even the most sesoned d
iveneeds to st
yle
tnd
ttuned to the countless, constnt decisions th
t go into sfely ope
ting
vehicle. Distctions cn effectively tu
n-off the pts of oub
ins th
t mke those decisions, le
ving us dnge
ously vulneble to mistkes
nd theccidents th
t follo.
Consequences of Dist
cted D
iving<h2>
The t
gic p
tten of
ccidents on Texs
ods
esults, in pt, fom the
elentless tug of distctions fod
ives of
llges,
hich hve only inc
esed
s cell phonesnd othe
sceen-b
sed devices hve int
uded on oulives.
It is estim
ted tht 100 people die e
ch dy
coss the United St
tes inccidents
elted to dist
cted d
iving. In Texs
lone, the Texs Dep
tment of T
nspo
ttion
epoted th
t in 2019 ove97,000 of the st
te’sccidents
ee due to d
ivedist
ction. Of those
ccidents, 378 individuls lost thei
livesnd
ppoxim
tely 2,500 people sustined se
ious injuies.
These senseless de
thsnd c
tst
ophic injuies inflict seve
e physicl, emotion
l,nd fin
ncil suffe
ing on Texns. It is up to
ll of us to do oup
t to t
y to pevent them. One
y to do th
t is to hold distcted dive
s finnci
llyccount
ble foctions tht
esult inccidents, inju
ies,nd losses.
Fin nci
l Li
bility foDist
cted D
ivingccidents ll d
ive
s—no mtte
theige, level of expeience, o
skillt the
heel—oe
bsic duty of c
e to thei
pssenge
s, othemoto
ists,nd the public
t lge, not to engge in un
eson
bly dnge
ous behvio
s tht
isk cusing
nccident.
In
nccident,
hen people get hut o
killed,d
iveho engged in negligent beh
vioc
n end up oing compens
tion toccident victims.
In Tex
s, distcted diving constitutes
n une
sonbly d
ngeous d
iving behvio
tht c
n cuse
nccident
nd led to <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comdist
cted-d
iving-negligence-nd-the-inju
ies-tht-
esult“>li
bility fothe d
ivend othep
ties
t-fult
>. In otheods, victims of
nccident c
used byny kind of dist
cted d
iving—not just <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comdist
cted-d
iving-ccidents-f
cts“>texting
nd diving
>—my h
ve theight to sue fo
dm
ges. By tking leg
lction to seek those d
mges, victims m
yeceive compens
tion fo:
- i
-level="1">Medic
l expenses
elted to p
st, cuent,nd futu
e ceel
ted ton
ccident injuy
- i
-level="1">Othe
expenses incu
ed bec
use ofdist
cted d
ivingccident, such
s the cost ofep
iing o
epl
cing dm
ged pope
ty<li>
- i
-level="1">Loss of income
nd
ges
esulting fom missing
ok bec
use ofn
ccident injuy, o
becuse of
disbility th
t pevents you f
om eveetuning
ok
- i
-level="1">Physic
l p
in, emotionl suffe
ing, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of compnionship of
loved one,nd othe
non-monety dm
ges<li>
Ho C
n
Cccident
ttoney Help You
fte Textingnd D
ivingccident o
OtheDist
cted D
ivingccident?
C
ccident injuies c
n hve
lsting imp
ct on youlife
nd youfin
nces. Seious inju
ies my keep you out of school o
o
k foeeks omonths. They m
y cuse you ch
onic pin
nd emotionl difficulty. They m
y keep you fom enjoying hobbies, spo
ts,nd
ctivities. They my inte
fee
ith youmost che
ished peson
lel
tionships. They my even t
ke youlife o
the life ofloved one.
You dese
ve compenstion if
distcted dive
cused the
ccident tht led to <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comdist
cted-t
uck-dive
s-cn-inju
e-people“>these so
ts of injuies
>.n expe
ienced Texs moto
vehicleccident inju
ytto
ney cn help you obt
in tht compens
tion. To len moe
bout youightsnd options, cont
ctskilled
ccident injuy l
ye
fo fee consultation.