It should be common knowledge by now that texting while driving is extremely dangerous. In fact, it’s fatal.
If you thought teen drunk driving was dangerous and fatal, wait until you check out the facts about texting and driving below.
Chances are, you’ll be appalled at the statistics.
- Maybe you need to know some of these statistics for your driver’s ed course.
- Maybe you’re just curious.
- Or maybe you’re trying to prove a point.
Whatever your reason for wanting to see texting and driving statistics, we are happy to provide these sobering statistics if it means saving even just one life.
These 20 Texting and Driving Statistics Will Shock You
Ready to learn the truth about texting and driving?
Take a look at these devastating facts about texting and driving that will show you that reaching for the phone is never a good idea when you’re driving.
Don’t become another statistic; the text can wait.
Drunk driving causes 28 deaths a day in the US, approximately one death every 52 minutes.
Although not as lethal as a drunk driver, statistics show that distracted driving causes nearly nine deaths per day.
Young drivers who are more likely to be on their cell phones would be expected to have a higher rate of car accidents than adults.
However, anyone can get distracted by cell phone use and cause a crash.
Texting and Driving Statistics About Why Texting Causes Distractions
- Texting takes longer than you think—the average time a text takes is 5 seconds, which means if you’re driving at 55 miles per hours, you’re driving the length of a football field without your eyes on the road. Yikes!
- Texting while driving causes a whopping 400% increase in the amount of time spent with eyes off the road.
- The reaction part of the brain slows down by about 33% when the driver is distracted by a cell phone.
Usage Statistics About Texting and Driving
- At any given time during the day, approximately 660,000 drivers attempt to use their phones while behind the wheel of a car.
- You can be charged with murder for texting and driving.
- In a study reported in 2012, 70% of people could not go without their phones for 24 hours.
- Ninety-four percent of drivers support a ban on texting while driving.
Texting and Driving Statistics About Accidents
- The National Safety Council (NSC) reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes every year.
- Almost 390,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting and driving.
- One out of every four car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving.
- Twenty-one percent of teen drivers involved in fatal accidents were distracted by their cell phones.
- In 2015, nearly 3,500 people were killed in distracted driving accidents, and another 391,000 were injured.
Teenagers Vs Adults: Texting and Driving Statistics
Teen drivers and young adults have less experience behind the wheel and can not afford to be distracted on the road.
In 2018, one-in-four fatal distracted driving crashes involved young adults between the ages of 20-29 in the US.
Teen drivers are even more likely to be distracted while driving.
Nine percent of teenagers that died in a car crash were a direct result of distracted driving.
- Teen drivers are 4 times more likely than adults to get into car accidents while texting or talking on a cell phone.
- Cell phone use is highest among 16 to 24-year-old drivers.
- Ninety percent of teens expect a reply to their texts within minutes.
- According to a AAA poll, 94% of teenage drivers acknowledge the dangers of texting and driving, yet 35% admitted to doing it anyway.
- Forty percent of teen drivers admitted in a poll they have participated in texting and driving in the past 30 days.
- Eleven teens die every day as a result of texting and driving.
Adults typically have more driving experience than teens or novice drivers.
Adults are also less likely to be texting friends or distracted by an incoming message.
This does not mean that adults cannot be distracted.
Although drivers aged 15-29 accounted for 14% of distracted driving deaths in 2018, adults aged 30-59 were also responsible for 14% of motor vehicle crash deaths due to distracted driving.
Adults should know better.
Texting and Driving Statistics About Impaired Driving
- Texting while driving is six times more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk.
- One study found that distracted drivers experience a 35% decline in reaction time, whereas drunk drivers only experience a 12% decline, making texting while driving more dangerous than drunk driving.
There is no doubt that texting while driving is extremely dangerous, and hopefully, these facts about texting and driving helped drive that point home.
Texting and Driving Statistics from Past Years
Here is a look at the trend in distracted driving fatalities over the past several years.
| Year Driving Fatalities | Motor Vehicle Fatalities | Distracted |
2019 | 36,096 | 3,142 |
2018 | 36,560 | 2,841 |
2017 | 37,473 | 3,242 |
2016 | 37,461 | 3,166 |
2015 | 35,092 | 3,477 |
A quick scan of texting and driving statistics shows that the number of motor vehicle fatalities and the percentage caused by distracted driving is eerily consistent.
This has led to states increasing the punishment for distracted driving violations to include steeper fines and higher insurance rates.
The Dangers of Distracted Driving
Distracted driving has resulted in car accidents since the invention of the automobile.
However, over the past twenty-five years since cell phones have become a way of life, the number of distracted-related accidents has grown immensely.
Traffic safety should be your number one priority every time you take control of a motor vehicle.
Distracted driving can be anything that takes your focus away from the road, not just cell phone usage.
However, distracted driving facts show that cellphones are the most common problem.
Texting and driving is not the only distraction that results in car accidents.
There are many ways a driver can be distracted other than by cell phone use:
- Daydreaming
- Eating and drinking
- Adjusting the radio or programming the GPS
- Talking to another passenger
- Playing music too loudly
- Reading billboards and signs
- Smoking
- Looking for something in a purse or the glove compartment
- Unruly kids in the backseat or an unrestrained pet
Being aware of the types of things that can take your focus away from the safe operation of your vehicle can help you avoid distracted driving accidents and personal injury.
