How To Avoid An Accident While Using Your Car's Multimedia Entertainment System

Summertime in Wisconsin is perfect for enjoying time on the water. Whether you are setting sail on a family-friendly pontoon, fishing boat, or old canoe, a day on the lake just can’t be beaten.

However, there are safety risks involved with boating. Speeding, negligence, drinking, and inexperience are all common causes of boating accidents in Wisconsin. In this post, we want to share a few tips to help you stay safe on the water this summer.

How to Stay Safe While Boating in Wisconsin

Wearing a life jacket - According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 80% of boating accident deaths could be avoided by wearing life jackets. When a boating accident occurs, you have limited time to stretch and get your stowed life jackets. Therefore, it is advisable to ensure that you and everyone on board has a life jacket while boating.
Avoid drinking alcohol - Alcohol consumption while boating is illegal and endangers the lives of everyone on board. Remember that intoxicated swimmers and passengers are also more likely to drown.
Be weather-wise - Whether you are operating a boat during the summer, spring or fall season, always consider carrying a radio and watching out for the weather. Sometimes, wind shifts and choppy water can be telltale signs of a brewing storm. Get to shore as soon as you realize the weather is about to change.
Don’t overload the boat - It’s essential to follow your boat’s load limit restrictions. Overloading your boat can make it unstable and surge the risk of swamping or capsizing.
Ensure all operators are trained - Human error is a leading cause of boating accidents. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that all operators can effectively navigate and operate the boat. You can do this by ensuring boating operators take a boating safety course that includes reading the weather, boat handling, and navigation.
Maintain a safe speed - Like on the road, you can face penalties or fines for overspeeding on the water. Since there are no lanes on water and different water vessels zig-zag everywhere, it can be challenging for speeding boats to avoid collisions. Therefore, it is essential to ensure you excess caution and obey the speed limits.

What Should You Do After a Boating Accident?

After a boating accident, you should ensure that everyone on board is safe. If there are injuries, loss of life, property damage in excess of $2,000 or the total loss of a boat, you are required to report the incident to law enforcement without delay.

As with other accidents, it is essential to gather evidence immediately. You need to collect police reports, witness testimonies, videos, and photos of the scene. A Milwaukee boating accident attorney will help you gather the evidence you need to establish a strong case against the party at fault.

Contact a Milwaukee Boating Accident Attorney

At Natasha Misra Law, we are ready to help you get the compensation you need to move forward after a boat accident. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and learn more about how we can assist in strengthening your case.

More cars than ever have feature-rich, complex “infotainment” systems to control GPS, set up radio or music playback, make Bluetooth calls via your cell phone, and much more.

But while these can be really useful, they can also cause dangerous distractions. An AAA study found that using these systems could distract users and inhibit their ability to respond to red lights and other simulated on-road situations, particularly for seniors.

So how can you use your car’s infotainment system safely? Here are a few tips from Natasha Misra Law.

1. Plug Your Destination Into GPS Before You Leave

If you use GPS to get most places, setting up your destination while your car is stationary and parked is the best way to use your GPS system safely – and avoid typing in addresses and other distractions while driving on the road.

2. Pull Over When You Need To Re-Route Or Take Other Actions

If you need to change your destination, make a phone call, adjust some settings on your infotainment system, or perform other such actions, don’t do so on the road.

Consider pulling into a parking lot or into a safe place on the side of the road to take these actions. This way, you can focus your attention on the task at hand – rather than splitting it between your infotainment system and the road.

3. Use Voice Control When Possible

Most modern infotainment systems support voice control on their own, and many of them also integrate support for phone-based voice assistance like Apple’s Siri or Google Assistant via Bluetooth.

Using voice commands allows you to do things like make calls, change GPS destinations, and even tune the radio. We recommend consulting your user’s manual to learn more about voice control, and to see how you can use it in your infotainment system.

4. Set Up A Music Playlist In Advance Of The Trip

Even changing the song playing on your infotainment system could distract you from the road for a few seconds at a time – and this could result in a dangerous on-road situation or an accident. Consider setting up a music playlist in advance of your trip so that you don’t have to mess with your tunes while you’re on the road!

5. Ask Your Passenger To Handle Things

If someone’s traveling with you, hand off the responsibilities to them, and ask them to change the song, enter GPS directions, call someone, or take whatever other action you need to do while driving. They can fiddle with the infotainment system all they want without any risks.

Drive Safely And Don’t Be Distracted By Your Infotainment System!

Distractions come in many forms when driving, and this can include your vehicle’s built-in infotainment system. So follow these tips from our law firm, and protect yourself, your passengers, and other road users.

Need help getting compensation for an accident? Natasha Misra is an experienced Milwaukee auto accident attorney, and can help you explore your case and your options. Contact us online or give us a call at 414-246-9707 to get started today.

Natasha Misra

My law practice is dedicated to helping people who have suffered injuries in accidents which were not their fault. Born and raised in Milwaukee, I come from a family of medical professionals. My background and experience help me understand and represent individuals injured in accidents.