The American Motorcyclist Association has stated that one of the main reasons that people are involved in both accidents and near misses while riding is because they—or the driver of another vehicle—are distracted. In recent years, distraction has soared to become a near epidemic that factors into more and more incidents—often with deadly implications.
The reason for this, in large part, is because mobile technology has been getting better and more widely used. In the early 1990s, some people had cellphones and car phones, but they weren’t that widespread. Today, nearly every driver and biker has a cellphone on him or her all the time.
Even outside of cellphones, though, all sorts of technology can cause people to stop paying attention on the road. It takes a second to look down and change the song on an MP3 player. When using a radio, a person’s eyes may leave the road when trying to change the channel. If a GPS unit gives confusing instructions, a person may look away from the road to check the screen and see where to turn.
Plus, the audible side of things can be distracting even when a person’s eyes are on the road. If people are listening too closely to the GPS, focusing too intently on phone calls—even with hands-free devices—or wrapped up in the songs they are listening to, accidents can happen.
Technology isn’t going anywhere, so it’s going to factor into accidents for the foreseeable future. If you’re injured in Georgia while riding your motorcycle and the other driver was distracted, you may be able to seek compensation.
Source: American Motorcyclist Association, “Distracted And Inattentive Vehicle Operation,” accessed Oct. 09, 2015