Many people think nothing of eating while driving, but the truth of the matter is that doing so increases your risk of being in a car accident. Here is what you need to know about why you should avoid eating while driving, the frequency of car accidents resulting from such distracted driving, and tips to avoid doing this.

Eating While Driving Is Distracted Driving

Anything that takes your attention off the road is a distraction that increases your risk of being in a car accident. The road needs your complete and full attention in order for you to drive safely. This means that answering texts, skipping songs, or paying more attention to your conversation than the road all put your safety at risk – as does eating while driving.

Since it’s so common for people to grab a meal and go, you may not think anything of it. After all, it’s not like it’s illegal to eat or drink while you’re driving. It’s so common that a Stanford study showed that about 20% of Americans’ meals are eaten in the car. 

But just because something is commonplace doesn’t mean it’s good. Even the slightest distraction while driving can have catastrophic consequences. When you’re going 55 mph, this means that you can travel the length of an entire football field in 5 mere seconds. That’s a lot of distance for something to abruptly change in the road or driving conditions in a very short time – time that could be taken up by something as simple as dipping your fries in sauce.

Ways Eating While Driving Contributes To Car Accidents

There are three main types of distractions while driving: visual, manual, and cognitive. Visual distractions are when you take your eyes off of the road. Manual distractions are when you take your hands off of the wheel. Cognitive distractions are when you take your mind off of driving. Eating while driving causes all three of these types of distractions. 

This is because when you eat while you drive, you’re multitasking. This means that your attention is only partially on the road. You’re not just thinking about the road, you’re thinking about not making a mess, not spilling, opening your food, reaching for a drink, and more. It only takes a split second for an accident to occur, necessitating 100% of your focus on the road at all times when you’re driving.

Plus, eating is something that typically requires both of your hands. While sure, you can grab fries with one hand or tell yourself you only need one hand to hold your sandwich, this involves taking at least one hand off of the wheel. And should something happen, like a pedestrian coming out of nowhere, you need both hands on the wheel to react fast enough.

The Frequency Of Accidents Caused By Distracted Driving

A lot of things that contribute to distracted driving aren’t illegal, eating and drinking included. But that doesn’t mean they don’t create distractions that jeopardize everyone’s safety on the road. Approximately 9 people are killed in the United States every day due to accidents that involve a distracted driver. 

According to the NHTSA, drivers are 8x more likely to be involved in an accident when reaching for an object. They’re 3x more likely to be in an accident while eating or drinking. Motorists who eat and drive increase their chances of being in an accident by about 80%, while distracted drivers who were eating or drinking caused about 65% of near-miss accidents.

Don’t Eat A Crash Diet: How To Avoid Eating While Driving

Eating while driving is bad for multiple reasons. Not only does it increase your chances of being in a car accident, it’s also not good for you. Most foods that are convenient to eat in the car aren’t healthy. As such, doing your utmost to avoid eating while driving isn’t just safer, it’s also healthier for your body.

Some ways you can do this include:

• Eat before you leave. This does mean you have to wake up earlier, but better an earlier alarm than landing in the hospital.
• Keeping food out of the car. Some people keep snacks in their car. While this can be smart in the event that you get stranded somewhere, keep them out of reach of the driver’s seat. Plus, this helps you keep your car cleaner.
• Opt for slimmer, easier to pick up drinks. That way, you don’t have to fumble to pick them up or worry so much about spilling them all over the place. 

Have You Been Victim To A Car Accident?

LeBaron & Jensen provides personal injury representation to those who have been victim to accidents, such as those caused by distracted drivers who were eating while driving. Contact us today to schedule a case consultation.

With Halloween and the holidays right around the corner, people are using rideshare apps more than usual, as they go bar-hopping, try to figure out how to get everyone from one place to the next, or simply don’t want to deal with trying to find a parking spot during some of the busiest times of year. Convenient as rideshare apps may be, staying safe and knowing who is liable in the event of an accident can be challenging.

Here is what you need to know about what to do if you get into an auto accident while using a rideshare app, such as safety concerns involving these apps, who can be held liable in an accident, and more.

Factors Affecting The Safety Of Using Rideshare Apps

It used to be that we were cautioned against getting into strangers’ cars, but now, we pay strangers to take us places. As nice as it would be to trust that rideshare apps are safe, there are still hazards involved with using them. 

• Distracted driving. Rideshare drivers need to monitor their mobile devices to see where they are taking you and what to do. This can distract them from the road. Other distractions can include conversing with passengers, drinking and/or eating while driving, changing the music to passenger preference, and more.
• Impaired or reckless driving. Drivers may operate their vehicles under the influence or without a care for traffic laws, putting everyone’s safety at risk.
• Driver fatigue. Drivers may work long hours in order to make more money. This can lead to fatigue, which can negatively affect their driving.
• Driving in unfamiliar locations. Rideshare app drivers often go where they’ve never been before. This can cause them to be more easily distracted and more prone to errors, which can lead to accidents.
• Looking for passengers. Rideshare app drivers need to try to find their passengers, which can be challenging, especially in busy areas. This looking around can lead to accidents.
• Poor vehicle maintenance. Since their job involves their car, rideshare app drivers must ensure that their vehicle is safe to drive. Failure to do so increases the risk of malfunctions and accidents.
• Poor road conditions. If the roads the rideshare app driver is driving on are not maintained, this can impact the safety of all in the vehicle, such as if there are deep potholes or major cracks in the road.
• Violence. Rideshare app drivers may be violent to passengers. While background checks should prevent this, sometimes rideshare apps do not do their due diligence before hiring new drivers. 

Who Is Liable In These Auto Accidents?

Liability with auto accidents depends on a wide array of factors. Seeking the representation of a personal injury attorney will make navigating the complexities of liability and your options much easier. 

Multiple parties may be found liable for an auto accident. In certain cases, you may be able to file a suit against the rideshare app itself. Rideshare drivers and the companies themselves are required to carry auto liability insurance in order to provide coverage for those injured in auto accidents.

You may file a lawsuit against the rideshare app itself if the company acted negligently and said negligence contributed to your injuries. Such examples of negligence include: not conducting a thorough background check on the driver, not conducting assessments of the driver’s safety behind the wheel, and more. If the rideshare company knew or failed to check if a driver had a history of reckless driving or serious traffic violations and hired them anyway, you may be able to hold them liable for the accident. 

Liability can also be complicated by whether the driver was in the app or not, whether they’re on route to pick up a passenger or transporting a passenger, and more.

Other potentially liable parties include:

• Another driver who caused the accident, rather than your rideshare app driver
• Manufacturers of defective vehicle parts
• Those who failed to maintain roads.
• And more.

It’s important to work with a personal injury attorney in order to determine liability in an auto accident so that you can achieve the compensation and justice you deserve. 

What Should You Do If You’re In An Auto Accident?

Whenever you’re in an auto accident, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Even if you feel fine, that could just be because of the adrenaline pumping through your veins. It can take weeks or even months to notice symptoms from injuries resulting from an accident, such as with brain injuries. 

If you don’t seek medical attention, you may not receive the treatment you need in order to prevent complications. If you wish to pursue legal action, having medical records that prove that your injury resulted from the accident makes the process much smoother.

You will also want to contact the police, gather the information of those involved in the accident as well as that of any witnesses, and take pictures and videos of the accident, if possible. From there, you’ll want to call a personal injury attorney. 

In our previous blog, Your Insurance Adjuster Is Not On Your Side: Why You Need To Be Wary, we covered why you should consult with a personal injury attorney prior to working with your insurance. 

Do You Need A Personal Injury Attorney?

Whether you’ve been injured in an auto accident while using a rideshare app or have otherwise sustained injury at the fault of someone else, the personal injury attorneys here at LeBaron & Jensen are here for you. We provide free case consultations and do not charge a fee until we win your case. There’s no need to worry about navigating your case on your own with our dedicated lawyers on your team. We do everything in our power to ensure that you receive the justice and compensation you deserve.

Contact us today to learn more about our personal injury services and how we can help you achieve fair compensation.

If you’ve been injured in an AirBnB, you may be confused as to who is liable. Is it the host? Is it AirBnB itself? Both?

Here, we’ll go into what AirBnB is, common injuries that people can sustain in an AirBnB, who is liable if you’ve been injured in an AirBnB, and what you should do if you’ve been injured in an AirBnB. Let’s get into it. 

What Is AirBnB?

AirBnB is an online service that provides travelers with an alternative to a hotel, motel, or hostel. Travelers can instead rent out someone’s home, room, or other such location. This allows people with multiple properties or who don’t mind hosting a way to make money, and it allows travelers to have a more unique, homey experience. 

AirBnB itself does not directly own any of the locations listed on their marketplace, but rather functions as a middleman between hosts and travelers. AirBnB does collect a fee from hosts, but it is the hosts who set the prices, organize the booking process, and provide hospitality to their guests. 

Common Injuries People Can Sustain In An AirBnB

There are many different injuries that people can sustain in an AirBnB. Premise liability claims are the most common. AirBnB hosts must make reasonable efforts to keep the rental property safe. If they do not do this, they may be held liable for injuries sustained at their rental.

Common injuries people can sustain in an AirBnB are as follows:

• Slip and fall accidents
• Stair accidents
• Failure to take safety precautions
• Injury from unmaintained property, such as broken stairs or unmaintained driveways
• Swimming pool accidents
• Back injuries
• Head injuries
• Bedbug accidents
• Dog bites
• Shoulder injuries
• Collapse of parts of property (ceiling, decks, stairs, etc)
• Carbon monoxide poisoning
• And more

There are many factors that can contribute to being injured at an AirBnB, and the host may not always be at fault. The host may make every reasonable effort to keep the property safe, but if guests are rowdy or not exercising reasonable safety precautions, they may still be injured. It is important to ensure that you are taking reasonable measures to keep yourself safe while staying at an AirBnB, the same as it is important for hosts to do what they can to maintain a safe property.

Who Is Liable If You Are Injured In An AirBnB?

If you have been injured in an AirBnB, you may be left in the dark as to what exactly your legal rights are. Given that AirBnB doesn’t directly own the location, can they even be held liable? What about the host? What about other guests? 

A personal injury attorney can help you determine liability in your specific case. You may be able to hold AirBnB liable, or you may not. You may be able to hold the host liable, depending on whether or not they made reasonable efforts to maintain a safe property. Generally speaking, suits tend to be filed against the AirBnB host, rather than AirBnB itself. 

No two personal injury cases are the same, so it’s important to have an experienced professional on your side to ensure that you receive top-quality legal representation so that you can focus on healing from your injury. 

What Should You Do If You Have Been Injured In An AirBnB?

Given that personal injury cases can be complicated, especially if you have been injured in an AirBnB, the most important thing to do is consult with a personal injury attorney. They will let you know whether or not you have a solid case and what your options are. If you do have a solid case on your hands, they can represent you to help you achieve the best possible outcome. 

It is inadvisable to try to represent yourself in your own personal injury case, as the law is a very complicated thing and there are many loopholes and confusing wordage and other such tactics that people may attempt to utilize to prevent you from receiving the compensation you deserve.

Do You Have A Personal Injury Case On Your Hands?

Injured in an AirBnB? Do you want to know whether or not you have a strong personal injury case on your hands? LeBaron & Jensen is here to help. We provide free case evaluations and do not charge you anything until we win your case. Contact us today to schedule your free case consultation or for any questions you may have about our services.