Distracted driving has always been a public safety concern. Drivers may become distracted due to conversations with passengers or rubbernecking when there is a crash nearby. They may eat and drink while driving or groom themselves in traffic.
However, with the rise of smartphones has come a particularly dangerous form of distraction. Handheld devices take people’s hands off of the wheel, their eyes off of the road and their minds off of traffic safety.
Public awareness campaigns have sought to highlight the risks of distracted driving, particularly the distraction related to mobile phone use. Lawmakers have also acted to create laws against manually using mobile devices while driving. Despite increasing awareness, distracted drivers seem to be everywhere. Has distracted driving gotten worse recently?
Data indicates an uptick in distraction
Awareness of the risks involved in distracted driving and more states prohibiting the manual use of mobile phones while driving have not deterred people. If anything, distracted driving seems to have become more of a safety issue in recent years. According to research into distracted driving, the issue continues to worsen. A shocking 70% of people responding to a survey agreed that they notice more distracted driving than they did a few years ago.
Roughly half of that number or 34% of respondents said they’ve had a near-miss in traffic because of their own distracted driving. More than half of all people surveyed admitted to texting while driving, and over three-quarters admitted to making or accepting phone calls while driving.
Crash statistics show that 3,142 people died in distracted driving crashes in 2020, and 3,522 people died in distraction-related crashes in 2021. That’s an 11% increase in deaths!
Drivers sometimes convince themselves they have the skill to use a phone while driving without causing a crash or think that they have a workaround, like talk-to-text software, that reduces their risk. Unfortunately, crash statistics paint a very different picture.
Someone involved in a collision caused by a distracted driver may have the option of filing an insurance claim. In some cases, they may even be able to file a personal injury lawsuit if insurance cannot fully reimburse them for their losses. Recognizing how much of a safety concern distracted driving currently is could help people make better choices in traffic or recover their losses after a wreck, depending on their circumstances.