This Just In ...

Distracted Driving Up by 12 Percent

April 2023 - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released its analysis of the 2021 fatal crash data. The analysis underscores the risk of distracted and other forms of risky driving. Fatalities in distraction-affected crashes increased by 12% from 3,154 in 2020 to 3,522 in 2021, a total of 8.2% of all fatalities reported.

A distraction-affected crash is any crash where a driver was identified as distracted at the time of the crash. Even with these high numbers, distraction is likely underreported because the behavior is difficult to detect during crash investigations, and police reports likely understate its incidence.

“These new data tell us just how much harm distracted driving can cause and why a nationwide campaign is more important today than ever,” said Sophie Shulman, NHTSA’s Deputy Administrator. “We need to use all the tools we have to reduce distracted driving: state laws, education and outreach, and disabling of phones while driving can all work to save lives.”

When coupled with new data from NHTSA’s “The Economic and Societal Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes, 2019,” the impact of distracted driving becomes even clearer. That report, which was released in February, estimated distraction by observing driver behavior in the real world. The study found that distraction was involved in 29% of all crashes, resulting in 10,546 fatalities, 1.3 million nonfatal injuries, and $98.2 billion in economic costs in 2019.

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