7 scary statistics about distracted driving
By now you no doubt know the obvious dangers of texting, calling, tweeting, or engaging in the countless other distracting activities that absorb your attention while driving. But have you really stopped to take a look at the numbers? In the years since cell phones have become so pervasive in our society, we've seen a huge increase in the number of claims and cases we handle involving distracted drivers causing auto accidents. Many of them involving fatalities.
The worst part of the whole thing is that, much like drinking and driving cases, many of these accidents and injuries could easily be avoided if the drivers had just made the decision to always be 100% alert and attentive while they were behind the wheel.
If you are one of the many Americans who still texts and drives, consider some of the following stats, and hopefully you too can become a safer driver.
Roughly 25% of all auto accidents involve a driver who was distracted by cell phone use.
On average, drivers can safely look away from the road for 2 seconds while driving.
Cell phone use distracts drivers for an average of 5 seconds for every interaction. That's 100 yards of blind driving.
You're 4 times more likely to get in an auto accident while using your cell phone.
33% of adults ages 18-64 have reported using their cell phone while driving.
In 2013, 341,000 motor vehicle crashes involved texting.
77% of young adults are confident that they can safely text while driving (yikes!).
Attentive driving is key to avoiding car crashes and other accidents, so we hope you'll take these stats into account next time you are about to engage in distracted driving. And make sure to spread the word!