How many accidents caused by texting while driving

Distracted driving can increase the chance of a motor vehicle crash. Anything that takes your attention away from driving can be a distraction.

Sending a text message, talking on a cell phone, using a navigation system, and eating while driving are a few examples of distracted driving.

Any of these distractions can endanger you, your passengers, and others on the road. You can visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration external icon NHTSA website for more information on how data on motor vehicle crash deaths are collected and the limitations of distracted driving data.

This fact sheet provides an overview of distracted driving and promising strategies that are being used to address distracted driving. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Transportation Safety. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Distracted Driving. Minus Related Pages. On This Page. Types of Distraction How big is the problem?

Who is most at risk for distracted driving? Types of Distraction. There are three main types of distraction: Visual: taking your eyes off the road Manual: taking your hands off the wheel Cognitive: taking your mind off driving 2. In the U. Young adult and teen drivers In the U.

Among these drivers, eight percent of drivers aged 15 to 19 were distracted at the time of the crash. They were: more likely to not always wear a seat belt; more likely to ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol; and more likely to drive after drinking alcohol.

How to Prevent Distracted Driving. What drivers can do Do not multitask while driving. You can use apps external icon to help you avoid cell phone use while driving. Consider trying an app to reduce distractions while driving. All Legal Questions. Do I Have a Case? What Is My Case Worth? Who Pays My Medical Bills? How Much Will a Lawyer Cost? All Case Types. Bicycle Accident. Business Interruption. Industrial Accidents. Medical Malpractice. Motorcycle Accident.

Nursing Home Abuse. Product Injuries. Social Security Disability. Workers' Compensation. Statute of Limitations. State by State Laws. Complicated Cases. Contact Us. Nearly , injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving. Texting while driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk. Answering a text takes away your attention for about five seconds.

Traveling at 55 mph, that's enough time to travel the length of a football field. We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.

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All insurance products are governed by the terms in the applicable insurance policy, and all related decisions such as approval for coverage, premiums, commissions and fees and policy obligations are the sole responsibility of the underwriting insurer. The information on this site does not modify any insurance policy terms in any way. About fatal crashes happen each year as a direct result of texting and driving.

That number increases to over 30, when you consider distracted driving as a whole, according to the NHTSA. While texting and driving-specific crashes are decreasing in recent years, overall fatal crashes due to distracted driving are on the rise. In the most recent available data, you can see that texting and driving deaths were on the rise in , peaked in and , and dropped in The legal definition of texting while driving is when the driver uses a mobile phone to compose, send, or read text messages and other digital correspondence while operating a motor vehicle.

Texting while driving is a form of distracted driving. There are three types of distracted driving:. During that time, you drive about the length of a football field at around 55mph, which is feet — quite a long way to have your eyes off the road.

The issue is not just the momentary lapse in attention, but also the additional time it takes for your eyes to reorient to the road and the other cars around you. Teens and young drivers are especially susceptible to the dangers of texting and driving when they have fewer years of experience under their belt.

This inexperience, coupled with a lack of advanced driving skills, can equate to more accidents, and sadly, more fatalities amongst this age group. In addition to doubling your chances of an accident, texting while driving can triple your risk of other incidents on the road:.

Other drivers are not the only ones that you risk hurting on the road. The NHTSA reports that in , passengers, pedestrians and 77 bicyclists were all killed by distracted driving. Text messaging was not popular until the s when phone messaging was first introduced. While capabilities were limited and nothing like what we see today, it was the beginning of a dangerous trend.

By the s, texting was becoming the new norm, with wireless providers packaging text messaging into their bundles. There are several reasons why texting has really taken off.

Cell phone users quickly found that their providers were more generous with text message allotments than they were minutes.

To stay within their plans, subscribers began relying on texting as a primary and more affordable means of communication. In , state governments began fighting back with new legislation crafted to cease the growing epidemic of distracted driving.