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4 reasons not to spare 5 seconds to text while driving

Nixon Wenger supports campaign aimed at stopping distracted driving behaviour
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Distracted driving results in more motor vehicle deaths than drunk driving.

Chances are you wouldn’t get behind the wheel when intoxicated by drugs or alcohol. But would you send a “quick” text if you thought no one was looking?

Too often the answer is yes, and the results are catastrophic.

Distracted driving is now responsible for more motor vehicle deaths than drunk driving.

“In an effort to combat the carnage, the Trial Lawyers Association of BC and their community partners have launched the BC Coalition to End Distracted Driving,an awareness campaign to raise awareness of distracted driving and its role in numerous accidents throughout North America,” says Michael Yawney Q.C., a TLABC Board of Governor and senior litigation partner at Nixon Wenger LLP.

“At Nixon Wenger we have seen the devastating injuries of many serious accidents and if we can support a campaign to bring more awareness and negative stigma to a preventable cause, we will do what we can to share the reasons not to text while driving,” Yawney says.

Reason 1: In B.C., approximately 81 people died each year between 2010 and 2014 due to distracted driving, which has surpassed impaired driving to become the No. 1 cause of motor vehicle crashes and deaths.

Reason 2: On average, a person’s eyes are off the road for five seconds while texting – five seconds that can change someone’s life forever. Hear in victims’ own words about the devastating impact distracting driving has at distracteddrivingkills.ca/my-story/

Reason 3: In addition to costing lives and numerous devastating injuries, distracted driving is also driving up everyone’s insurance costs – even through everyday fender-benders caused by people thinking it’s okay to check their phones while driving in traffic.

Reason 4: Thanks to society emphasizing it’s not okay to drive while impaired, significant social stigma and harsher penalties now accompany that behaviour. The result is lower impaired driving rates and fewer fatalities. It’s time the same becomes true for distracted driving – described as any activity that could distract attention from the primary task of driving.

“We want this message shared with as many people as possible,” Yawney says, urging people to learn more online at http://distracteddrivingkills.ca/ and Facebook. “The broader its reach, the sooner we can change this devastating behaviour.”

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Michael Yawney Q.C