Study Shows Texas Near Top Of List For Red-Light Violations

On behalf of Lovett Law Firm posted in Car Accidents on Friday, July 12, 2013.

Distracted driving, as all of us know, is a major cause of concern when it comes to causes for car accidents and contributes unsafe driving, including red-light violations. According to a study published by the National Coalition for Safer Roads and FocusDriven, distracted driving is more of a problem than many of us are willing to admit and take responsibility for.

The study found that there were nearly 7.3 million red-light violations across the country in 2012 due to distracted driving. Texas, unfortunately, may be among the states with the worst track record in this area. Texas came in with the second highest rate of intersection violations per licensed driver, with one violation per licensed driver.

While Texas does have laws on the books prohibiting texting while driving for school bus drivers and younger motorists, it is currently is among a small group of states that does not completely prohibit texting while driving. Earlier this year, there were efforts to pass a complete ban, but the idea didn’t get very far.

Such laws can undoubtedly be helpful in preventing texting while driving, but even states that have already completely banned texting while driving and even all cell phone use landed near the top of the list in terms of red-light violations. So imposing laws can help, but compliance is more complicated.

Failure to follow state law regarding distracted driving, of course, is not only unsafe in and of itself, but can also be a black mark in a personal injury case. Litigation has a way of getting to the bottom of the issue when it comes to the likely causes of an accident.