Distracted driving is deadly driving. In 2023, distractions behind the wheel caused 3,275 traffic fatalities and 324,819 injuries, according to the most recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data.1 And 8% of all fatal car crashes that year involved driver distraction.
In 2023, distracted driving deaths fell slightly from the year before. But overall, the number of people killed in distracted driving crashes remained relatively consistent between 2019 and 2023.
Every driver can help solve the problem of distracted driving. The following article explores common driving distractions, how distracted driving affects car insurance rates, and the prevalence of distracted driving behaviors, so you can protect yourself and your passengers.
Distracted driving is a type of inattention that occurs whenever motorists stop paying attention to driving to focus on another activity.
Driving is a cognitively challenging task that requires 100% of your attention. Tasks that divert your attention away from the road — from changing the radio station to responding to a text — are dangers that increase your risk of a car crash.
Driver distraction was a factor in 13% of all motor vehicle traffic accidents reported to law enforcement in 2023, according to NHTSA data.
Most drivers understand the dangers of texting on the road, but not all distractions are obvious.2 For example, 48% of drivers admitted to eating and drinking behind the wheel, according to a survey from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. But having a snack while driving can increase crash risks by nearly 2%.
Here’s how three common driver distractions increase your risk of an accident.
In 2023, 369 traffic accidents involved at least one driver using a cellphone, killing 397 people, according to NHTSA data. Crashes involving cellphone use represent 12% of all deadly distraction-affected accidents.
Drivers who use cellphones are more than three times more likely to be in a car accident, according to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) research. And making a handheld call increases crash speeds by 31%, according to Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT).
Using vehicle controls is one of the most common driving distractions. Despite the increasing availability of vehicles with voice controls, 68% of drivers report adjusting the car radio, and 36% use a GPS navigational system while driving, according to an NHTSA survey. But those seemingly harmless actions can significantly affect safety.
According to FHWA research, drivers are:
Almost two times more likely to get into an accident if they adjust the radio
More than two times more likely to crash if they change climate controls
Almost five times more likely if they engage with another device, like a touchscreen
While it’s natural to be curious about what’s going on outside your vehicle, rubbernecking can significantly increase your risk of a car accident. Drivers distracted by outside objects are seven times more likely to be in a crash, FHWA research found.
Distracted driving caused an average of 3,277 deaths annually between 2019 and 2023. Exploring the most recent distracted driving statistics from the NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), a database of police crash report forms, reveals how age, time, and location affect your risk of an accident.
Nearly 18% of people killed in distracted driving accidents in 2023 were between the ages of 25 and 34, making it the age group most likely to die in a distraction-affected crash. The same age group has the highest crash rate, accounting for about 22% of distraction-affected accidents, according to NHTSA data.
Driver distraction can lead to crashes at any day and time. But about one-third of all distracted driving fatalities happen on a Friday or Saturday, according to 2023 NHTSA data.
Distracted driving deaths are least common on Tuesdays, with 12% of fatalities occurring on that day of the week.
More people die in distracted driving fatalities during the day than at night. In 2023, 52% of distracted driving deaths occurred during the day, compared with 48% at night, according to NHTSA data.
Texas has the most motor vehicle fatalities from distracted driving in the U.S., according to NHTSA data. More than 400 people in the state died in distraction-affected crashes in 2023.
The less populous states of Alaska, North Dakota, and Rhode Island have the fewest distracted driving deaths, with two per state in 2023.
Although distracted driving can have fatal consequences, 71% of distraction-affected accidents in 2023 only caused property damage, according to NHTSA data. About 28% of distracted driving crashes result in injuries, and fewer than 1% cause road fatalities.
The table below compares distraction-affected fatal motor vehicle crashes, accidents that caused injuries, and property damage collisions in 2023, according to NHTSA data.
Phone use is a top form of distracted driving — and by far the deadliest. Simply interacting with a phone screen or moving your phone increases the likelihood of an accident by 240%, according to Cambridge Mobile Telematics. One in three crashes in 2024 occurred within one minute of drivers using their phones.
In 2023, most distracted drivers weren’t using a phone when they crashed, but 8% reported phone use. Using a cellphone is also associated with a higher risk of being in a fatal accident, according to NHTSA data.
What drivers do with their cellphones also affects crash speeds, CMT found. Drivers making handheld phone calls crashed at the highest speeds.
The link between speed and accident fatalities is well-established. In fact, the risk of dying or being seriously injured in an accident doubles for every 10 mph over 50 mph a vehicle is traveling at the time of the crash.4 In 2024, nearly 33% of all phone motion that CMT’s technologies measured occurred at speeds higher than 50 mph.
When your attention wanders away from the road, you’re more likely to miss signals, ignore speed limit signs, and get into a car accident. Simply adjusting the radio makes you nearly two times more likely to crash, while dialing the phone raises your risk by 12 times, according to FHWA research.
Auto insurance companies raise premiums after a collision to reflect your new risk level, so distracted driving behaviors can cost you hundreds of dollars per year.
Compare average full-coverage car insurance rates for drivers with a clean driving record vs. drivers with a speeding ticket, accident, or DUI on record in the table below.
Hands-free phone-use laws make the roads safer, lowering distracted driving by 9% compared to texting laws alone. This is according to a CMT analysis of Michigan crashes before and after the state enacted a handheld device ban. Still, drivers who spend more time making hands-free calls have a 52% higher chance of crashing, CMT found.3
Most U.S. states have banned texting and handheld cellphone use. Multiple states have limited rules, and one (Montana) has no phone-use restrictions at all. Here are the current state laws about cellphone use while driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
This table notes which states restrict cellphone use to hands-free calling only, which ban texting by driving, and which completely bar cellphone use of any kind for certain groups of drivers, like teens.
Inattentional blindness, or perceptual blindness, occurs when we fail to notice something right in front of our eyes due to inattention. During driving, inattentional blindness can look like failing to notice another car swerving into your lane because you’re thinking about your to-do list instead of driving.
To avoid driving while distracted, use these techniques to stay focused:
Keep your hands off devices while driving, including fiddling with the GPS or picking a new playlist. States with handheld device bans have a 9% lower rate of phone distraction while driving than states that only have no-texting laws, according to CMT.
Scan for cues. Read road signs for hazard warnings, note other drivers’ speed and behaviors, and watch for animals or falling objects to maintain awareness of your surroundings.
Don’t drive while sleep-deprived. Sleep deprivation magnifies distractedness, making it difficult to refocus on a task once interrupted, according to Michigan State University research.
Driving while distracted can have serious consequences. Learn more about how to protect yourself on the road with these answers to the most frequently asked questions about distracted driving.
Distracted driving decreased slightly between 2022 and 2023, according to the most recent NHTSA data. In 2023, 3,275 people died in U.S. distracted driving traffic accidents, compared to 3,315 in 2022.
The most common driving distractions are talking to other passengers (82% of drivers report) and adjusting the car radio (68%), according to an NHTSA survey. Nearly half of drivers (48%) ate or drank while driving. Comparatively, 12% of drivers admitted to reading emails or texts, and 9% sent text messages or emails while driving.
Using electronic devices, reaching for objects, looking at objects or events outside the vehicle, eating, and applying makeup are the biggest driver distractions, according to research by the NHTSA and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). In 2023, cellphone use contributed to 12% of all distraction-affected fatal crashes.
Studies suggest driving while distracted — specifically while using a cellphone — increases the risk of being in a crash to a similar level as drunk driving. Drunk driving causes far more fatalities annually. In 2023, 12,429 people died in DUI accidents, according to NHTSA data. In the same period, 3,275 people died in distraction-affected crashes.
Texting-specific data is unavailable, but cellphone use while driving, including texting, causes about 6% of all crashes, according to the NHTSA.
About one-third of drivers in a AAA survey admitted to texting while driving. Although 93% of drivers agree that texting, emailing, or reading on a handheld device is very or extremely dangerous, 27% have sent texts or emails, and 37% have read them on their device.
Texting while driving makes getting into a traffic accident about six times more likely, according to the NHTSA. Rear-end collisions are one of the most common types of car accidents, and phone use while driving is associated with the crash pattern.
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