Do Not Let Your Christmas Presents Cause A Danger

Christmas is coming and children might be getting their first mobile phones and it’s always at this time of year our personal injury teams handle road traffic accidents when mobile phones are partly to blame for the injuries of either pedestrians or drivers.

Those injuries can be pedestrians who are distracted by their mobiles and have no road awareness, or motorists who are illegally using their phones whilst driving and have slower reaction times.

Checking a text whilst driving slows reaction time by 37% according to the Transport Research Laboratory, whilst speaking on phone makes us react 46% slower.

On average it’s said that we check our phones 27 times a day and one worrying statistic is that a fifth of 18-24 year olds admit to checking their smart phones whilst crossing the road.

With younger children with even less road sense this statistic could soon become a tragedy.

“Our phones really now are an extension of our lives, they are our diaries, our music centres, our communication hubs and with social media interwoven into everyone’s daily routines we frequently see youngsters walking around with their heads buried into their phones and with earphones in.

“In these instances there is little road awareness and advances in technology bring big concerns over our attitudes to personal safety,” said solicitor Lisa Anderson.

“Locally police have been having a Christmas campaign not to use a mobile phone when you are driving, but I would urge parents considering buying their children a mobile phone at Christmas to also warn them of the dangers of using that phone whilst crossing roads and the potential serious consequences of an accident occurring with either a motor vehicle, motorbike or cyclist, no one wants to start the New Year with accidents and injuries,” she added.

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Please note that the information and opinions contained in this article are not intended to be comprehensive, nor to provide legal advice. No responsibility for its accuracy or correctness is assumed by Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers Ltd or any of its members or employees. Professional legal advice should be obtained before taking, or refraining from taking, any action as a result of this article.

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