April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month in the U.S.
As technology advances to the stage where it becomes almost indistinguishable from daily life, smartphones and similar compact gadgets are increasingly turning into distractions within vehicles. Regardless of whether they're engaged in texting, sending messages, scrolling through social feeds, viewing clips, or countless other seemingly harmless activities, motorists appear preoccupied with nearly anything except focusing on their driving environment.
Even diverting your gaze from the roadway for merely 5 seconds when traveling at 55 miles per hour equates to navigating the distance of a full football field blindfolded. Nevertheless, recent statistics compiled by Edelman on behalf of major insurer Nationwide reveal that motorists acknowledge distracted driving as a concern, even though some confess to engaging in practices they understand pose risks.
Fifty percent of motorists confess to doing this while driving.
According to a nationwide poll involving 1,000 U.S. motorists and 400 truckers, numerous participants believe they excel behind the wheel but view other people’s driving skills quite differently. Roughly eight out of every ten respondents assessed their personal driving capabilities as either 'top-notch' or 'outstanding.' However, when asked about evaluating fellow drivers, merely one in seven held similar positive views.
Simultaneously, these individuals largely agree that driving has grown significantly riskier compared to just a year earlier. Approximately 92% of drivers believe that others are exhibiting more aggressive behavior behind the wheel, speeding excessively, and frequently glancing at their mobile devices, whereas about 88% think that people are also engaging in more reckless conduct overall.
Nevertheless, numerous drivers confess to engaging in multiple hazardous activities while operating a vehicle. More than one in ten respondents to the survey indicated that they occasionally or frequently check social media on their smartphones (15%), prepare themselves for work (13%), or view videos (13%) when they should be focused on driving among other vehicles.
Moreover, over half of all drivers acknowledge engaging in routine activities that might appear harmless but could be dangerous. Specifically, around 64% of those polled admitted to frequently adjusting the radio or infotainment systems, approximately 55% confessed to using their navigation or GPS apps regularly, and about 50% acknowledged occasionally consuming food or beverages while operating a vehicle.
Even when they're not the ones driving, drivers notice distracted driving.
The drivers interviewed also shared their thoughts on rideshare operators—the individuals driving vehicles rented through platforms like Uber or Lyft—and deemed them fairly secure. Among those polled, approximately one-fourth stated that they avoid using ridesharing services altogether, yet merely 15% admitted feeling uneasy when traveling in these cars.
Nevertheless, the distracted behavior of these drivers remains just as poor as that of typical drivers. According to the survey respondents who utilize such services, 80% reported observing drivers manipulating their navigation or GPS apps, whereas 64% noted instances of drivers tweaking the radio or infotainment system while operating the vehicle. Additionally, 33% claimed to have seen ridesharing drivers sending texts during trips, and 18% recounted witnessing drivers reading or replying to emails while the car was moving.
Moreover, Edelman and Nation discovered that 21% of respondents gave ride-share drivers a 1-star rating or lower due primarily to dangerous or reckless driving behaviors including excessive speed, along with discourteous or unprofessional conduct such as making hostile remarks, and because their vehicles were untidy or unpleasantly scented.
Related: Honda and Hyundai Secure IIHS Top Safety Pick Awards Despite Fewer Overall Wins in 2024
Final thoughts
The fresh information highlights that distracted driving continues to be an uncomfortably frequent issue. The most recent statistics provided by the NHTSA indicate that approximately 8% of deadly accidents, around 13% of incidents resulting in injuries, and roughly 13% of all officially documented motor vehicle collisions in 2023 involved driver distractions.
In 2023, according to the NHTSA, 3,275 individuals lost their lives and approximately another 324,819 sustained injuries in car accidents caused by distracted driving. Their data also reveals that out of these incidents, 241 teenagers within the 15-to-19-year-old range died due to distractions affecting traffic collisions in 2023. Additionally, there were 286 fatalities resulting from crashes where at least one driver in this teenage demographic was found to be distracted during the same year.