As a driver, you know what you should and shouldn’t do on the road. You shouldn’t be talking on the phone, for instance, if your device isn’t hands free. If you text while you drive, then you know you’re not paying attention and can cause an accident. If you’re struck by someone who is being negligent when driving, it’s important to report your case and to make a claim, because your injuries could be the fault of their recklessness.

A report from Aug. 25 states that fatal traffic accidents are up 14 percent since 2014, which is shocking considering that it’s only halfway through 2015 at this point. The National Safety Council has shown that injuries have also skyrocketed in these accidents and have risen by over 30 percent.

Such high numbers must be caused by a common denominator, so what’s putting so many lives at risk? It’s believed that cellphones and smartphones are to blame, and they’re involved in around 27 percent of all car accidents today. In many states, including Massachusetts, drivers are banned from texting while they drive. Cellphone use by drivers in the state have reduced, but the number of accidents hasn’t.

There is a one in 112 chance you’ll be killed in a motor vehicle accident, according to the National Safety Council. That’s compared to a chance of heart disease or other issues like cancer taking your life, where your chance is one in seven. Fatalities with car accidents can be prevented in many of these cases, but it takes the enforcement of anti-texting laws.

Source: Valley Advocate, “The Driving Toll: Smartphone use underlies spike in US fatal car crashes,” Aug. 25, 2015