Distracted Driving Deaths: A Breakdown Of Each Distraction

The latest year for statistics on distracted driving was 2016. In that report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 3,450 people were killed because of distracted driving. With that being said, there can be many different aspects that tie into distracted driving and we break it down for you right here!

Distracted Driving Deaths

We stress that driving distracted is dangerous. While many people think that distracted driving means using your cell phone while behind the wheel, that is not always the case. It can consist of you eating while driving or even just daydreaming! There are many options and South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers broke it down for us. In this interactive map, you can see the location of each fatal crash, as well as the distraction that caused it.

The Results

As I stated, there are many activities that factor into the distracted driving category. This can be as simple as adjusting the radio or complex as sending a text message to your friend. Some of these things are common practice while behind the wheel, but that does not take away from the fact that it is still a distraction. Your attention is taken off the road, even when adjusting the radio. That little bit of time of inattention can result in a car accident!

For 2016, about 66 percent of distracted driving fatalities were caused by driver inattention or general distraction. This means it falls into a non-specific form of driving distracted, like daydreaming or careless driving or other reasons not covered in the more specific options. On the other end of things, only 17 percent of the fatalities were caused by the use of a smartphone, which is odd.

Timing Is Everything

It looks like the time of the day factors into these distracted driving deaths also. The peak time for deaths from driving distracted is from 3 pm to 4 pm, which makes sense. This would be when schools let out, so those teens are texting and driving. Also, traffic is starting to pick up more and more at this time.