Woman claims pet bird distracted her causing accident

As has been mentioned in previous posts this month, April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. While texting is often the first thing that comes to mind when one considers distracted driving behaviors, there are many other activities that could fall under that umbrella. In what most would consider a bizarre example, a Pennsylvania woman claims that an accident she was involved in was not due to texting while driving but rather the result of the distraction her pet parrot provided as it tried to get the cover of her coffee cup off.

According to the woman, her parrot enjoys drinking coffee.

When the woman took her eyes off the road to see what her bird was doing, she hit a guardrail. Though her airbag deployed when she struck the guardrail—possibly saving her life—she nonetheless suffered cuts to her face and broke her arm as a result of the crash. The bird also survived the incident.

While this incident did not involve any other vehicles it is easy to see how if it had, others could have been hurt as well. In a situation such as this, a personal injury lawsuit could be filed by injured parties against those whose negligence in engaging in distracted driving is to blame for the crash. If successful, financial compensation could be awarded.

Those who find that they are in that situation could benefit from working with a lawyer who handles such cases. Generally, the sooner one takes action to pursue such a claim, the better.