Burbank DUI Dangers: The New iPhone 5 is Great, but it Could Provoke DUI with Distraction Charges

You just bought a new iPhone 5 — you want to immerse yourself in your new toy, not dwell on something somber, like Burbank DUI law.

But understand that cell phones and other personal digital devices can not only endanger your life (and the lives of other motorists) but the can also complicate your Southern California driving under the influence charges, especially if you hurt someone in a crash.

The iPhone 5 offers a fantastic bevy of features and updates – even if it isn’t as revolutionary and paradigm shifting as some of Apple’s other offerings from the past 5 to 10 years. There is a time and a place to explore those innovations. But behind the wheel is not that time or place!

In fact, if you text or update social media sites or “explore new apps” while driving, your risk for getting into an injury accident spikes substantially. In fact, research out of places like Virginia Tech and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests that people who text while driving are actually more dangerous than people who drive under the influence in Burbank and elsewhere.

The basic problem
When your attention is elsewhere – i.e., not on the road – your reaction time slows down.

We’re all used to the concept of “multi-tasking.” But humans did not evolve to multi-task. If you are typing in a number or a snarky tweet, your full attention is not on the road. Most of the time, that won’t matter. But if you have to make a sudden stop or deceleration or acceleration, you might lose several milliseconds – or even full seconds! – on your reaction time. And that loss of time can mean the difference between a safe trip home and a life ending catastrophe.

For instance, some studies suggest that steering capability decreases by over 90% when you text on your iPhone 5 (or other device). Another famous study out of Virginia Tech said that your risk of crashing increases by over 20 times (!!) when you text. Yet other research suggests that someone who is above the Burbank legal limit for DUI (0.08%) will have a reaction time decreased by around 12%; whereas a texting driver will have a reaction time decreased by 35%.

A big difference!

Driving under the influence and texting simultaneously can lead to DUI with distraction.

When you combine DUI with texting, you can create a super lethal cocktail – and you can also get into extra trouble with the law. Both DUI and texting/dialing your iPhone 5 can impede your reaction time and general thought process – but it’s unclear just exactly how much more dangerous this cocktail of behaviors might be.

Are the risks just additive? In other words… say your risk for getting into an accident increases by 10% if you text and 5% if you drive DUI. Does that mean your overall risk increases by 15% when you combine those behaviors? Or does the combination actually jack up your risk even more – by, say, 30%? Nobody knows, since science on the subject is pretty new.

Getting help
The team here at Burbank’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you understand what you need to do to battle back against your charges, whether you have been hit with a DUI while distracted in Burbank charge or other DUI charges. Attorney Kraut is a former city prosecutor, and he can leverage his connections, intuition, and knowledge of the law to help you greatly.

If you have been arrested for a DUI in Burbank or you are under investigation for driving under the influence in Southern California, please contact Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Michael Kraut for 24/7 assistance by phone at (323) 464-6453 or toll free at (888) 334-6344 or online.