Kentucky has passed a law and now is enforcing it that prohibits cell phone texting while driving. The law is designed to make it illegal for drivers to text while driving, which takes drivers’ hands off the steering wheel of the car and takes drivers’ attentions off of the road. Cell phone usage, including texting, causes many accidents in Kentucky. The use of these devises while driving distracts drivers and seriously diminishes the driver’s control over their vehicle. It may seem like a small thing to use a cell phone or text while driving, but the reality is it causes major accidents which injury and kill people. Drivers who text or take their attentions off of the road can injure or kill pedestrians, including people at crosswalks, motorcyclists, bike riders, and drivers of other vehicles.
Kentucky’s law
The State of Tennessee, which also has laws outlawing texting while driving, has begun to have special patrols designed as “text patrols” which use unmarked vehicles to specifically watch for and issue tickets to those drivers texting while driving.
In Kentucky, people injured in auto crashes due to the negligent driving of others who were texting or using cell phones, need to seek the cell phone records of the person causing the accident. This can be done by filing a lawsuit against the negligent driver and then using subpoena powers to force the cell phone companies to turn over the cell phone and texting usage records of the other driver. This can be very useful information in these types of cases. It helps to bolster the case against the at fault driver, and may even help to increase the damages award or settlement amount, under a claim of reckless conduct on the part of the at fault party.
The Ackerson Law Office is presently handling a case where a young driver was allegedly using a cell phone and not paying attention to the road while driving. As a result of this conduct, our client, whose vehicle had broken down and pulled into the emergency lane of the expressway, was struck and severely injured. In this case, the lives of everyone involved are forever changed due to a moments lapse of attention to the road.
At the Ackerson Law Offices, we represent persons who have been injured or killed in automobile accidents due to the carelessness of other drivers. Because cell phone records are only obtainable for as limited period of time, we focus on obtaining records as quickly as possible so we can examine the evidence of whether a cell phone or texting may have caused the at fault party’s reckless driving, which injured our client.
For more information on the illegalities of texting while driving or how cell phone usage and text usage factor into a person injury lawsuit, contact the Ackerson Law Offices for a free consult, (502) 882-5176, or email personal injury attorney Brent T. Ackerson by by clicking here.