Every Los Angeles car accident lawyer is aware of the fact that teenage motorists who are traveling with teen passengers in their car are at a high risk of accidents. Two new studies confirm this.

The 2 separate studies which were conducted by researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance finds that teenage motorists driving with teenage passengers were more likely to be distracted in the seconds before the crash, compared to teenagers driving alone.

The first study included a total of 198 teenage motorists. The researchers found that teen motorists who were more likely to drive with multiple teen passengers in the vehicle identified themselves as ‘thrill seekers.’ These motorists also perceived their own parents as being less able to set standards, or monitor their children's activities. These teenage drivers were also found to have a poor perception of driving risks in general.

In the 2nd study, researchers analyzed a nationally representative sample of about 677 motorists. These drivers had been involved in serious automobile accidents. The researchers compared the risks of driver distraction and risk-taking behaviors just before an accident.

Among the teenagers who admitted that they were distracted just before the accident, 71% of male drivers and 47% of female drivers admitted that the distractions were directly related to the actions of the passengers.

Male teenage motorists were found to be 6 times more likely to perform an illegal driving maneuver just before an accident. These drivers were also found to be twice as likely to drive aggressively just before an accident, compared to teenage male motorists driving alone. This indicates that a male teenage motorist with teenage passengers has the highest accident risks.

The month of April is being commemorated as National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, but few states will mark these 30 days as strongly as California will.  The country's most populous state also has some of the strongest laws against distracted driving.  It was one of the first states to enact laws banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving and texting while driving.  Not surprisingly, there are special distracted driving awareness campaigns planned in Los Angeles over this month, including extra crackdowns. 

These laws haven't worked as well as Los Angeles car accident lawyers have hoped however.  According to the Los Angeles Police Department, despite these laws, motorists in California continue to use hand-held cell phones and text while driving.  The Los Angeles Police Department therefore has promised to focus harder on combating distracted driving this month.  The LAPD will have a zero-tolerance policy for cell phone use and texting while driving this month.  If you're texting while driving in Los Angeles, expect police officers on duty to pull you over.  Those who are pulled over can expect penalties that can exceed $250. 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving contributes to more than 6,000 accident fatalities every year.  While much of the focus this month will be on the distractions from cell phone use while driving, there are other distractions that can initiate a fatal or injurious accident.  These include reading, changing radio stations and performing any other activities that take attention away from the road.

This April, and the rest of the year, switch off your cell phone while driving or put it out of reach when you get into the car.  Change your voicemail to let callers know that you are unable to take their calls while you're driving.  If you need to make an emergency call or have to take an important call, do so safely.

Spurred either by a concern for employee safety, the fear of liability after an accident, or a mix of both, more Fortune 500 companies are implementing workplace policies preventing employees from cell phone use while driving. According to a survey by the National Safety Council, 1 in 5 Fortune 500 companies in the survey admitted that they had a policy that prevented employees from using cell phones while driving. This includes using a cell phone to make a conversation while driving, or send or receive text messages or e-mails at the wheel.

Many employers have dithered on implementing a policy banning cell phone use while driving because of fears that it would impact employee productivity. The survey also debunks this myth. According to the survey, in approximately 40% of the companies that have such policies, there has been no discernible effect on employee productivity. In fact, in some cases, the ban has actually enhanced employee productivity. However, another 50% of the companies have not had their policies long enough to determine whether there has been any impact on employee productivity.

Los Angeles car accident attorneys have added their voices to safety organizations, including the National Safety Council, calling on employers to implement strict anti-distracted driving policies. In order to be successful, these policies should cover employees driving to work, to work-related appointments, or using company-issued cell phones or vehicles.

There are signs that more employers are taking the liability issues that come from cell phone-related accidents involving employees very seriously. Last year, the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety in partnership with the USDOT promoted Drive Safely to Work Week. According to the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety, the campaign was hugely successful, reaching more than 5,000 public and private organizations and representing more than 20 million American employees.

Flummoxed by laws against distracted driving that haven't been as successful as hoped, the Department of Transportation is now setting its sights on disabling cell phone technologies while a vehicle is in motion to prevent accidents.

Earlier this week, Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood voiced his ideas for preventing the 5500+ accident fatalities every year that can be traced to cell phone use while driving. According to him, cell phone blocking technologies - not cell phone jammers, since those are illegal - could be used to prevent motorists from texting or using a cell phone while driving. These sorts of technologies are already in the market, and have been developed by a number of private software companies.

It isn't clear exactly what LaHood has in mind. In any case, these technologies are manufactured by private software companies, and motorists may be at liberty to have these activated or inactivated. A person who desperately needs to talk on a cell phone, could simply inactivate the technology. Even if the Department of Transportation moves to make it mandatory to have some cell phone blocking technology in all vehicles in the future, there will always be people who find a way to inactivate the system.

Much of the problem has to do with the fact that texting or talking a cell phone while driving is simply not considered as reprehensible as intoxicated driving. Tell someone that you drove home after a party with enough alcohol in your system to blow up half of Los Angeles, and they look at you askance. Tell them you had a two-hour conversation on your cell phone while driving home, and there would be little reaction. That attitude needs to change. Until then, any combination of legislation and technology will only be so effective.

Federal agencies are reporting that there has been a drop of about 360 deaths in distracted driving-related accidents in 2009 over 2008.  There were 5,474 fatalities in 2009, and 448,000 injuries in these accidents.  For the first time, federal agencies also isolated distractions that involve cell phone use.  Eighteen percent of all the distracted driving deaths in 2009 involved a motorist using a cell phone.  Cell phones also contributed to 5% of all injuries that occurred in distracted driving-related accidents last year. 

There is now talk of reducing these fatalities further by banning all cell phone use behind the wheel.  It's a move that has automakers very worried, because it could dramatically change the way motorists currently drive, and could render voice recognition technologies in a car less useful.

The Governor’s Highway Safety Association is considering a ban on all cell phone use while driving, a move that would also include voice-activated technologies like the Sync  system that is currently in place in so many Ford vehicles.  The system allows motorists to make hands-free calls, and have text messages read out to them.  If the ban on cell phone use at the wheel goes into effect, these systems could be prohibited. 

Not surprisingly, Ford Motor Corporation is leading the automaker tirade against such measures.  The company opposes any efforts that would ban hands-free calls.  In spite of all the recalls and bankruptcies, the automaker lobby in the US continues to be a powerful one, and it's likely that any moves to impose a ban all cell phone technology will see a tough fight. 

The GHSA can only make a recommendation about banning cell phone use, and states are not required to implement these.  However, when an agency like the GHSA adds its voice to those of Los Angeles car accident lawyers to call for a ban on all cell phone use by motorists, it could bolster this cause, and place pressure on states to enact such legislation.  This explains all the panicking by the automakers.

Drivers in California continue to text while driving in spite of a ban on the practice.  In fact, the practice actually seems to be increasing. 

The Auto Club conducted a survey of 4,000 vehicles in Orange County, and found that 2.7% of the drivers could be observed texting while driving at any given point in time.  That is actually an increase of 100% since January 2009, when the law banning texting while driving went into effect.

The Auto Club says that the findings show the need for greater enforcement and other penalties for violations.  Los Angeles car accident lawyers would agree wholeheartedly.  Currently, the laws impose a paltry penalty of $20 for a first offense.  There are no points added to the driver's record.  There is also little indication that our legislators are taking seriously the accident risks to motorists from such practices.  A bill that would have toughened penalties for texting ban violators by adding a point to the driver’s records was recently defeated in the legislature.  The bill would have also increased penalties for violations.  The bill had been strongly supported by auto safety groups and Los Angeles car accident attorneys, but legislators were obviously not convinced that there was a serious need for stronger penalties.

As long as legislators continue to deny we have a problem with distracted drivers, we will continue to see drivers openly flouting the rules and placing other motorists and themselves at risk.  We don't need more proof that texting while driving substantially increases the risk of an accident.  However, we do to actually increase fines and toughen penalties for violations.  Until that happens, we can continue to expect more violations of the ban, and more risks to motorists.

A survey of motorists last year by Nationwide Insurance found that approximately two-thirds of the respondents admitted to feeling pressure from colleagues and friends to be constantly available by cell phone even while they were driving.  This year, another survey of employees found that more than half of the workers secretly check their smart phones while driving, and 20% admitted to checking it every time it rang or beeped.  In a bad economy, workers are under more pressure than ever to present themselves as the ideal employee, and that includes being available to the office via cell phone or some other electronic communication device, even while they're driving. 

There is much that employers can do to prevent such behavior, but private businesses have not been so keen on jumping on the anti-distracted driving bandwagon.  The Department of Transportation is encouraging private businesses to get more involved in educating their workers about the need to switch off all distractions while they're driving.  In fact, the DOT is partnering with the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety in these efforts.  If you're an employer who wants to phase in a "no-cell phones while driving" policy at work, then the folks at NETS have compiled a great collection of resources and materials for you.  These include fact sheets, activity sheets, tips and community tools.

A campaign to phase in a "no cell phones while driving" policy in the office is likely to be unpopular.  However, the NETS details steps that employers can take to promote a safer driving culture among their employees.  This includes the use of presentations, offering call blocking technologies, and making better use of voicemail technologies to avoid receiving a call while driving.  Employers can also brainstorm mass transit options or carpooling options for their employees, so that workers can be in touch with their office even while they're traveling, without becoming an accident risk.

There are tons of other resources that the NETS is making available for free to employers.  Los Angeles car accident lawyers would encourage California's employers to make use of these resources to promote a safer motoring culture in the workplace.  It not only keeps employees safe, but could also save you from liability in the event of an accident.