In an effort to reduce traffic fatalities and serious accidents all Michigan motorists need to voluntarily be more responsible by never texting while driving.

While Michigan in 2010 enacted legislation banning texting while driving the law is not being broadly enforced yet statewide. Because enforcement of the law is challenging I run voluntary compliance by all motorists in Michigan.

Far too many people have been killed or maimed for life because of thoughtless driver's who feel compelled to text while driving. Michigan took the true step by banning texting while driving but it is challenging for police officers to spot violations so I urge all motorists to simply stop engaging in this deadly practice!

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 20 percent of all injury crashes in 2009 alive to distracted driving and in 2009 some 5,474 persons were killed and 448,000 injured in crashes involving distracted driving. Other studies exhibit that:

* Motorists who engage in texting while driving are 23 times as likely to be involved in an accident that those who don't.

* Texting while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving. A motorist texting while driving at 35 mph will disappear 25 feet before bringing the car to a complete halt compared to four feet a drunk driver would shroud at the same speed.

rush A Pew Research study in 2010 shows that 47 percent of adult drivers admit to texting while driving compared to 34 percent of teenagers.

These findings and others convinced Oprah Winfrey to conduct a nationwide campaign in 2010 to persuade Americans to sign a No Phone Zone pledge to agree not to phone or text while driving. In response, more than 200,000 persons signed the pledge including more than 60 celebrities such as Sandra Bullock, Elton John, Jerry Seinfeld, Morgan Freeman, Tina Fey and others.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a strong advocate of measures to reduce accidents caused by distracted drivers, met with Ford and Chrysler CEOs on January 25, 2011, to discuss automotive safety technology related to driving distractions.

In January 2011 T-Mobile added the DriveSmart phone app as a trial to one of its phones that senses when the phone owner is in a moving car and then forwards to voice mail all income phone calls and text messages, eliminating the urge to pick up the phone while driving to read or return a text. 911 calls would not be blocked. T-Mobile plans to offer the app on several other devices.

I am cheerful that communication technology leaders have joined with Oprah Winfrey and Ray LaHood to raise national awareness of the dangers of texting while driving in an effort to reduce the tragic consequences of this silly habit. Unfortunately, despite the practice being illegal in Michigan and several other states, the practice of texting while driving quiet continues to cause needless deaths and disabling injuries.

One of the reason I am making this appeal because of my personal experience in dealing with families and survivors of persons killed by distracted drivers. For one of those families, whose son was killed in an accident near Marlette MI, I obtained a $1.3 million judgment. The accident was caused by a truck driver who was distracted because of fatigue.

In the unique past I also have campaigned for the Michigan Transportation Department to adopt an aggressive program to widen two-lane highways throughout areas to make high-speed travel safer for all as well as his campaign to lower the mandatory retirement age for truck drivers to 65.

While I represent those who seek justice as victims of automobile, motorcycle and truck accidents, I also have worked as an advocate to accomplish our roads safer. If I am completely successful at the latter I could put myself out of business as a Michigan attorney specializing in personal injuries.

About the Author:
Terry Cochran is senior partner in Cochran, Foley & Associates, P.C., a Michigan law firm specializing in auto accidents, personal liability, medical malpractice, and SSD/SSI appeals. Cochran does not represent insurance companies or corporations but instead bases his practice upon representing individuals and families. www.cochranfoley.com 800-322-5543.

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