Don't Text And Drive: Distracted Driving Deaths Rise Nearly 10%

While all 50 states have some kind of distracted driving laws in place, the numbers continue to rise when it comes to number of deaths related to distracted driving.

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) recently shared their results in a new report titled Using Electronic Devices While Driving: Legislation and Enforcement Implications. Each year, distracted driving is becoming more of a major issue on U.S. roadways.

According to the report, crashes involving a distracted driver killed 3,142 Americans in 2019. That is nearly a 10% increase over the 2,841 people that were killed in such crashes in 2018.

Most likely, these numbers are even higher than that. The report said that "driver distraction is likely underreported as a cause in crashes; therefore, fatalities caused by distracted driving may be much greater."

Distractions Behind The Wheel

Researchers have found that each text you send while behind the wheel will increase your chances of being involved in a crash.

The report stated that overall crash rates increase by 8.3% and severe crash rates increase by 6.5% for every text sent per hour of driving.

Young Drivers and Distracted Driving

While teens in California are not allowed to use any electronic device while driving, that is not the case for every other state in the country. Typically, drivers send about 1.6 texts per hour while driving. However, these rates increased significantly as age decreased.

Younger drivers seem to send more texts, on average, then older drivers:

• Drivers between 16 and 19 send an average of 2.9 texts per hour of driving.
• Drivers between 20 and 29 send an average of 2.6 texts per hour of driving.

Enact Stricter Laws

With distracted driving laws varying by state, the researchers from this report want states to start enacting stricter laws. The report states that "despite prevalence of distracted driving laws, the use of electronic devices while driving still remains an issue."

Using their research of the distracted driving laws in all 50 states, they found the most effective laws and public safety campaigns shared four common elements:

1. Clear statutory language
2. Penalties and fines similar to other traffic violations
3. Combination of high-visibility enforcement and targeted outreach campaigns
4. Coalition-building efforts

Researchers even took it a step further to help pass stricter laws. They developed various resources to help make these laws stricter, including model legislation for lawmakers, ideas for public safety campaigns and presentations for police officers on the need for increased enforcement.

Remember to always keep your eyes on the road and off your phone!