An elderly woman died after being in the hospital for about a week following a major car accident in the Kansas City area.
The auto accident happened at an intersection of two city streets. A man was heading into the intersection from one direction when he admittedly turned his attention to a beverage he had in this car. While his eyes were off the road, he slammed into the woman’s vehicle, which was coming through the intersection perpendicular to the man’s pickup.
Police have yet to issue a traffic citation in connection with this accident, and there was no indication that alcohol was a factor in this accident.
Still, this sad story illustrates an important point about distracted driving. While many people associate distracted driving with cell phones or texting, the reality is that just about anything can be a distraction for drivers. The radio, something interesting on the road or even a fellow passenger can create just enough of a distraction to cause an accident.
In this case, the distraction appears to have been not a phone but a drink of coffee or perhaps even water. Still, motorists must be mindful of their obligations to keep their hands on the steering wheel and their eyes on the road at all times.
No matter what the source of the distraction is, a distracted driver can easily cause a severe or even fatal accident. As this tragic case illustrates, it only takes a second or two of distraction for a disaster to strike. Distracted drivers who cause accidents like the one in this story may be obligated to pay compensation to their victims.
