We at The Injury Lawyers talk a lot about accidents in the news – being specialists in the area, we like to think we know a thing or two about it! And there are so many hazards out there in the world just waiting to injure us that we all have to take care to avoid obstacles and hazards in our way.
We can however help ourselves in many ways; in fact, according to sources from the Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1312656/Millions-putting-lives-risk-texting-walk.html), millions of us are putting our lives at risk by texting at the same time as walking!
To quote a statistic from the report, one in 10 mobile phone users have already been injured because they are concentrating on their handsets whilst texting, taking little or no heed of any obstacles or hazards on the route. Bollards, sign posts, lamp posts, cars – these are but a few of the many things we are likely to miss if we are not paying enough attention to our surroundings whilst “text-walking”. It makes sense I suppose – it’s illegal to use our handsets whilst driving for obvious reasons.
The studies mentioned in the report confirm that the design of mobile phones means we use a significant amount of brain power – through devoting our visual attention and using up a great deal of our mental processing powers – on typing and sending text messages. Hospital A+E’s are reportedly seeing more cases of texting related accidents through the doors, which I imagine is a strain on the already thinly stretched NHS budget. The source goes on to say that apparently, two teenage pedestrians a week are either killed or injured as a result of mobile phone related incidents whilst walking. A startling statistic…
Laboratory experiments have been carried out which is the origin of the statistics mentioned above. The results found that one in five hazards are missed if people are paying too much attention to their mobile phones. So, for every five bollards you walk past whilst texting a friend, you are statistically likely to bump in to one!
The research, and the whole story itself, seems a little pointless on face value – yes, it’s good to know we are endangering our lives by texting on the move (thanks for the warning!), but I doubt many people will stop text-walking anytime soon – certainly not in busy Britain! But dig a little deeper, and the report advises that the research is designed to assist manufacturers to look for new ways to improve mobile phone designs to make texting on the move much safer. So, there is a point to the whole thing – particularly as the report highlights that many businessmen and women are expected to carry BlackBerrys and similar handsets to keep connected whilst on the move. We work far too hard in this country…
So, all this also serves as a bit of a warning for anyone thinking of claiming for compensation for walking in to a bollard – if you were texting at the time, a claim may be difficult to make (but not impossible). In the claiming world, there is a term we know as Contributory Negligence. It’s a common phrase which means that a Claimant is partially responsible for their accident or injuries. A common one is a road accident victim suffering worse because they weren’t wearing a seatbelt. If a seatbelt, which is a requirement by law, would have reduced the degree of suffering, it’s likely this will be alleged; and the result is a percentage les of the compensation you are entitled to receive (e.g. 25% reduction).
So, it’s all the more important to get an expert on your side. If you’re not sure whether you are entitled to make a claim for compensation, feel free to give us a call here at The Injury Lawyers for a free, relaxed, no obligation chat. If we think you have a claim, we will offer you our genuine No Win No Fee and fight your corner to ensure you get the justice you deserve.
