When you cannot pay proper attention to the road, you become a dangerous driver. Two of the most common ways that this happens are when someone is impaired due to alcohol or when they are merely distracted, even if they’re sober.
You may never get distracted by your phone or drive drunk, but you cannot change the fact that you have to share the road with people who do. This is a constant risk that you face every day. As such, you may want to know if it is more dangerous to be around a drunk driver or a distracted driver.
What the experts say
Though there are different opinions on this, the experts at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration generally point to distracted driving as the more dangerous of the two. In fact, some reports claim that distraction is six times more dangerous.
It’s worth noting that distracted driving may also happen more frequently, which contributes to the danger. Thanks to typical drinking habits, most drunk driving accidents happen after dark. People may be distracted at any time, from early in the morning on a commute to work to the middle of the night as they drive home from the bar.
Trouble gathering statistics
It can also be hard to get exact statistics because you can test for drunk driving, but not for distraction. If there’s a fatal accident, the police can almost always determine whether or not alcohol was involved. All they need is a blood test or a breath test.
With distraction, they may suspect that someone was distracted, but it’s hard to prove. The driver will likely lie and claim they weren’t on the phone. If there are text message records or something, it can be proven that they were distracted. If they were just browsing social media, though, there may be no record of them actively doing anything. As many distracted driving accidents as there are, even more may be missed.
How you can seek compensation
If you have been injured in an accident with either a drunk driver or a distracted driver, it is very important to know what legal options you have to seek compensation.
