Texting and driving is one form of distraction and makes up a sub-set of the total number of collisions due to distracted driving. According to Distraction.gov, texting is one of the worst forms of distraction, since it requires visual, cognitive, and physical effort from the driver.
Historically, cell phone distractions have been an issue since they became mainstream. As texting became more popular with larger smart phone screens, group texting, and predictive typing (sometimes a larger distraction as people try to correct typos), it’s impact as a distraction has also grown.
One of the most cited years for texting and driving statistics was from 2013. The NHTSA has released a few reports on distracted driving as a whole, including total crashes and those due to cell phone distractions. We wanted to see the statistics over time, so we’ve compiled this complete set of statistics to give the industry a more complete view and see if there are some general trends.
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 30,296 | 29,867 | 31,006 | 30,203 | 29,989 | -- |
| Injuries | 1,542,000 | 1,530,000 | 1,634,000 | 1,591,000 | 1,648,000 | -- |
| Property Damage Only | 3,847,000 | 3,778,000 | 3,950,000 | 4,066,000 | 4,387,000 | -- |
| Total Crashes | 5,419,000 | 5,338,000 | 5,615,000 | 5,687,000 | 6,065,000 | -- |
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 2,993 | 3,047 | 3,098 | 2,923 | 2,955 | 3,477 |
| Injuries | 279,000 | 260,000 | 286,000 | 284,000 | 297,000 | 391,000 |
| Property Damage Only | 618,000 | 563,000 | 619,000 | 616,000 | 667,000 | -- |
| % of Total Crashes | 17% | 15% | 16% | 16% | 16% | -- |
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 366 | 354 | 380 | 411 | 385 | 452 |
| Injuries | 16,000 | 15,000 | 21,000 | 24,000 | 22,000 | 27,000 |
| *Property Damage Only | 30,000 | 35,000 | 39,000 | 47,000 | 46,000 | -- |
Read the full report from NHTSA.
As you can see, texting and driving kills hundreds of people every year in the US. Looking at these numbers over time, the trend does not seem to be going down. In fact, in recent years, the number has seen a jump. We’ll continue to monitor the statistics of texting and driving, but it’s clear that there’s a problem today and it’s not going away.
Teenage drivers are the most prone to distracted driving. Not only are they inexperienced, but the youngest generation also tends to adopt the newest technology. The data in the table below shows the 20-29 age group having the highest total number of fatal collisions. However, when considering that the 15-19 age bracket contains a smaller number of people and they drive much less than the 20-29 age group, you start to see the trend is with young drivers in general (16-25).
| Age Group | Total Drivers | % of Total Drivers | # Distracted Drivers | % of Total | % of Distracted Drivers | # Distracted with Cell Phones | % of Distracted Drivers | % of Cell Phone Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15-19 | 2,898 | 7 | 285 | 10 | 10 | 53 | 19 | 13 |
| 20-29 | 10,518 | 24 | 859 | 8 | 29 | 154 | 18 | 39 |
| 30-39 | 7,573 | 17 | 500 | 7 | 17 | 75 | 15 | 19 |
| 40-49 | 6,891 | 15 | 391 | 6 | 13 | 48 | 12 | 12 |
| 50-59 | 7,240 | 16 | 404 | 6 | 13 | 36 | 9 | 9 |
| 60-69 | 4,560 | 10 | 256 | 6 | 9 | 20 | 8 | 5 |
| 70+ | 4,027 | 9 | 269 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 3 |
The following comparison of distracted driving crashes by age illustrates an alarming trend. The youngest drivers between the ages of 16-25 are the most at risk for distraction-related crashes.
