Distracted Driving Facts

Distracted driving is becoming more common as time goes by. In large part this is due to our increasing use of cell phones to text, and use other functions while we’re on the road. More and more people are dependent on their cell phones and because of that, texting while driving has become more and more of a danger on the roads. The Arrive Alive Tour has compiled some distracted driving facts that may shock you (and hopefully scare you enough to keep that phone out of your hands while driving next time)!

Distracted driving is an issue no one should take lightly and these texting and driving facts show us why:

  • At any point in the day, approximately 660,000 drivers are attempting to use their phones while behind the wheel of an automobile.
  • The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year.
  • Nearly 330,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving.
  • 13% of fatal crashes in 2019 involved a cell phone. 2895 of these fatal crashes resulted in 3,142 deaths nationwide.
  • 1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving.
  • Texting while driving is six times more likely to cause an accident than drinking and driving.
  • You are driving your car at 55 mph. You answer a text message, which, on average, takes away your attention for five seconds. In that time, you could have traveled the distance of a football field!
  • Reaching for a moving object or turning around increases your risk for a crash 8.8 times. Texting while driving makes a crash 23 times more likely.
  • Reaction times can double when texting.
  • Talking on your cellphone increases your risk of crash 4 times.
  • In controlled studies, drivers that were texting and driving spent 10% of the time outside of their driving lane.
  • Texting and handheld bans have been shown to decrease fatalities across all age groups

Arrive Alive Tour - Southwest Tennessee Community College - Macon Cove

Texting While Driving Facts For Teens

  • 40% of teens say they have been a passenger in a vehicle where the driver was texting and driving.
  • According to a AAA poll, 94% of teen drivers acknowledge the dangers of texting and driving, but 35% admitted to doing it anyway.
  • A teen driver with only one additional passenger doubles the risk of getting into a fatal car accident. With two or more passengers, they are five times as likely.
  • Teen drivers are four times more likely than adults to get into car crashes or near-crashes when talking on their cell phone or texting while driving.
  • Of all the teen drivers involved in fatal accidents, 21% of them were distracted by their cell phones.
  • Peer pressure? 90% of teens expect a response to their text message within five minutes, so if someone is driving and gets a text, then they feel the need to respond quickly and texting while driving issues arise.
  • 75% of teens say their friends text and drive.
  • 77% of teens say their parents text and drive.

Bring the Arrive Alive Tour to your area. For more information or details on the drinking and texting while driving simulator program, contact us here!

Sources: Edgar Snyder & Associates, DoSomething.org, HuffPost

For more information about distracted driving, take a look at the following infographic prepared by our friends at carsurance.net