Advances in automotive technology have changed the driving experience. Car accident law firms in South Florida are taking note of drivers potentially having a false sense of security of the road because of the high-tech features in their new vehicles.
Contact Lieberman Law Firm when you need a car accident law firm in South Florida.
Some new cars will not let you change lanes if your turn signal is not on. Others automatically apply the brakes if you are too close to other vehicles. Some cars have blind spot warnings to prevent you from hitting another car that you cannot see. That’s just the beginning. Tesla’s Autopilot feature is designed to handle many of the tasks of freeway driving — keeping in a lane, switching lanes, adapting speed to surrounding traffic.
But the company is facing increased criticism after one driver was killed while using it and another improperly used it. In that case, a driver tested the limits of Tesla’s Autopilot by climbing into his passenger seat and letting the car maneuver with no one behind the wheel.
As these automated features show up in less expensive vehicles, carmakers insist drivers must stay alert, but will they? You would be hard-pressed to drive down any busy South Florida street or highway and not see distracted drivers looking at their phones or GPS.
A 2017 Bloomberg article found evidence that using more technology is having an adverse effect on drivers –making them lazier and less attentive to road conditions. Motorists may equate all the new bells and whistles with safety, allowing their attention to wander, because they think their cars’ high-tech features will prevent a collision. The result is drivers who are slow to react in an emergency.
Roadway deaths are up 14 percent in the last two years. Speeding and crowded roadways share the blame, but statistics released by the federal government show the use of handheld devices while driving, including, testing or searching the internet, is on the rise.
While more congested roadways and speeding bear some blame, distracted drivers are another crucial factor. Data released by the federal government show an increase in the number of drivers texting or surfing the web while driving. A new study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety finds the information and entertainment systems in many new cars can distract drivers for as long as 40 seconds. We already see a surge in car crashes caused by distracted drivers. If drivers do not find a way to focus on the road, despite the technological temptations around them, this could be a particularly perilous period of growing pains on our roadways.
If you have been in a crash caused by a distracted driver, you need a car accident law firm in South Florida. Call Lieberman Injury Law at 800-973-5331. Save the number—call it if you need help—there will be no fee and no obligation.