New Support Group for Victims of Distracted Driving Accidents
A new group that aims to act as Mothers Against Drunk Driving does to support families of DUI crash victims, has just been launched in Washington. FocusDriven is meant to support families of persons killed in auto accidents involving a distracted driver. It’s part of the nationwide campaign against distracted driving, and it aims to a give a voice to victims of such crashes, who have not had enough attention paid to them till now.
The launch of the group was accompanied by new statistics by the National Safety Council that indicates that 28 percent of all accidents involve motorists distracted by their cell phones. Approximately 1.3 million accidents are caused by persons having a conversation on their cell phone behind the wheel, while 200,000 accidents are caused by text messaging drivers. Every year, these accidents kill more than 2,500 people. It’s the families of these victims that FocusDriven will give a voice to.
The group also plans to pressurize states that have failed to take the texting and talking on the cell phone issues, seriously enough. Several states this year are dealing with legislations relating to bans on text messaging and the use of handheld cell phones. They might face additional pressure from groups like FocusDriven when the time comes for a vote.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving has expanded from being a victims support advocacy group to an influential voice for stronger laws against drunk driving, ignition interlock devices and other DUI issues. I hope FocusDriven can make the same contribution in the fight against distracted driving. Most importantly, the organization will be able to act as a mouthpiece for the silent victims of distracted driving crashes, allowing them to speak out strongly against inattentive driving.
Scott Grossman is a Monmouth County auto accident lawyer, representing injured victims of auto accidents in Freehold, Marlboro, Aberdeen, Howell, and across Monmouth County.
