While cell phone distraction is a significant cause of vehicle collisions, it is merely one of many things in Los Angeles that compete for drivers’ attention. Reaching for items in the car, eating and drinking or programming a GPS device might cause people to take their hands off the wheel. Someone’s mental state could also lead to an accident as drivers become lost in thought. Billboards, scenery and busy traffic intersections could distract someone as easily as a text message and cause a moment of inattentiveness— just enough to miss a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Patch.com reported a child was killed by a car at an intersection while walking to school on Tuesday. The student was crossing the street on a green light when the driver, who also had a green signal, struck him while making a left turn. The driver waited for emergency response and told law enforcement officers that cell phone distraction was not the cause of the accident. The reason that the motorist did not see the child crossing the street is still unknown at this time. A good Samaritan who witnessed the collision gave the victim CPR; however, the child died before the possibility of transportation to a hospital.
The death of a child in a motor vehicle accident is a tragedy to the victim’s family and the individuals responsible for the incident. If the accident was due to a motorist’s negligence, the surviving family should know that they have recourse from insurance and personal injury claims. Drivers who take their eyes off the road just long enough to strike or injure another person may find that an attorney can help them through the process with their best interests in mind.