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Wisconsin Texting While Driving January 29, 2010

Posted by Attorney Jonathan Groth in Motorcycle Collisions, Wisconsin Auto Accidents.
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In my latest post I talked about my last trial. In that trial I had to subpoena the defendant driver’s cell phone records. With the rise of collisions because of a texting or distracted driver this is something that every attorney really needs to consider doing.

Nowadays many injured car accident victims say that the other driver was on the phone or somehow distracted. It is very important that the at fault driver’s cell phone records are subpoenaed early on in the process. Luckily I did just that in this last case. I learned that certain cell phone providers purge their records after a period of time.

Before you hire a personal injury attorney be sure to interview them about their experience using cell phone records at trial and how (and when) they will go about obtaining the cell phone/texting records.

Eyes ON The Road And OFF The Phone June 11, 2009

Posted by Attorney Jonathan Groth in FAQ Personal Injury.
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A good friend in Illinois just blogged about the American Medical Association’s push to get states to pass driver cell phone use laws.

Reporters also learned the new AMA policy encourages physicians to educate patients on the public health risks associated with driving while distracted with text messages and cell phones. The AMA is supporting any state legislature enacting laws to eliminate the use of text messaging by motorists while driving.

Included in this post is some shocking information.

The AMA sites a recent study reflects text messaging while driving causes a 400% increase time spent with eyes off the road. American drivers and passengers should not have to be concerned that other drivers are focused on texting instead of traffic.

It makes sense.  When your eyes are on your cell phone and you are concentrating on hitting the right button they can’t concentrate on traffic.

Distracted Drivers February 12, 2009

Posted by Attorney Jonathan Groth in Personal Injury Law, Wisconsin Auto Accidents.
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I’ve emailed comments on a couple list serves about my opinion on what set of facts would allow punitive damages in Wisconsin.  In Wisconsin, the standard is set forth in the Strenke decision.

The majority opined:

In response to the issues presented, we conclude that
a person acts in an intentional disregard of the rights of the
plaintiff if the person acts with a purpose to disregard the
plaintiff’s rights, or is aware that his or her acts are substantially certain to result in the plaintiff’s rights being disregarded. Furthermore, we determine that a defendant’s conduct giving rise to punitive damages need not be directed at the specific plaintiff seeking punitive damages in order to recover under the statute.

I’ve been thinking about this language as it applies to drivers on cell phones.  The National Safety Council has a few studies about cell phone ban laws across America.  According to nsc.org:

Driver inattention is a leading cause of traffic crashes, responsible for about 80 percent of all collisions, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Check out the link and especially the videos of the drivers who are on their cell phones.   I argue that each one of those drivers were very aware of the risks of driving while on a cell phone  (this applies to driving while texting too).  If they were aware of the risk doesn’t it follow that the punitive damages law would apply to their actions?

Is that a bad thing?  Punitive damages are meant, in part, to prevent individuals and corporations from acting in a manner that will cause harm to others.  So, don’t drive while on your cell phone, or buy a bluetooth headset.

  I’d like to know your thoughts.

Jon Groth is a Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney handling cases throughout Wisconsin and most recently in West Allis, Sheboygan,  Plymouth,  and Germantown.

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