Companies Held Liable for Distracted Driving Accidents

The National Safety Council designates a whole month (April) to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving and draw attention to the epidemic that it has become.  It’s not enough to raise awareness amount young drivers. Society as a whole, including corporate America,  must understand the consequences of failing to prevent distracted driving. Large companies who fail to recognize their corporate social responsibility to prevent distracted driving accidents may be vulnerable to personal injury lawsuits.

In April 2016, Today reported about a man who filed a lawsuit against the popular messaging app Snapchat and the teen that was distracted by the app when she struck his vehicle and caused permanent brain injuries.   The young woman was using the app’s speed filter, which encourages drivers to post a selfie to record their speed.

The distracted driver was traveling over 100 mph when the crash occurred.  According to USA Today, the victim’s lawyer alleges that Snapchat’s speed filter encourages distracted driving.  A snapchat spokesperson told USA Today that the company discourages distracted driving with an in-app warning message.   A feature that awards trophies for posting high speeds with selfies taken while driving does little to prevent distracted driving accidents.

Distracted Driving Injuries in Philadelphia

Trucking and bus companies can be held liability when one of their drivers causes an accident as a result of distraction or drowsiness.  Drowsy driving can be considered a form of distracted driving because the driver is not fully aware of his or her surroundings.  Their fatigue prevents them from concentrating on the task at hand.  Fatigue was cited as the cause of the 2014 Walmart truck accident that injured comedian Tracy Morgan.

Distraction.gov reported that 3, 129 individuals were killed as a result of distracted driving accidents in 2014 alone.  An estimated 1,550 deaths are attributed to drowsy or fatigued driving each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  EndDD.org states that distracted driving is not a teen problem, its’ an everyone problem.  Larger corporations like Snapchat and Greyhound who encourage or fail to recognize dangerous driving habits must accept responsibility and take action to discourage dangerous driving habits and promote safety or more lives may be lost.