It might not seem all that obvious, but we live in a nation where owning a cell phone has become deadly and get this, 13% of all drivers in the U.S. don't have car insurance. That's insane! We seem to be addicted to texting and driving, and the sad thing is that it doesn't seem to be slowing down. Based on historical data we found from the U.S. Department Of Transportation, we structured our own 2019 survey to benchmark deaths related to cell phone use and driving habits. The survey was run on 1,430 drivers from the USA from 2/1/2019 to 2/26/2019.
Top Texting & Driving Statistics:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Texting And Driving Death Stats
Texting & Driving Accident Stats
Distracted Driving Stats & Facts
2019 Cell Phone Use Study
Teen Texting And Driving Stats
Distracted Driving & Insurance
Texting And Driving Death Statistics
How Many People Die From Texting And Driving?
Unfortunately, 385 people were killed in 2018 alone from car crashes linked to texting and driving in the United States. While almost every state has made it illegal to text and drive, it still remains a growing issue. This number doesn't even include the 30 road rage fatalities that happen each year with distracted driving being the initial start of the incidents.
Key Statistics:
How Many Deaths A Year Are Caused By Texting And Driving?
Every year about 381 people die as a direct result of car accidents linked to texting and driving. While this is an average over the last 10 years, the numbers are increasing to the point where more people are dying from texting and driving than there are from mass shootings.
How Many People Die A Day From Texting And Driving?
8 people are killed every day as a result of a distracted driver in the United States. As Americans, we often overestimate our ability to actually drive and multi-task, when the truth is that no one should attempt to drive and text at the same time.
Edgar Snyder | NHTSA | CDC | III | The Zebra | Drive Safe Online |
Texting And Driving Accident Statistics
How Many Accidents Are Caused By Texting And Driving?
According to The National Safety Council distracted driving leads to about 1.6 million car accidents each year. 1 out of 4 car accidents in America are caused by texting and driving and about 390,000 injuries happen each year from accidents caused by people texting and driving.
In 2019 we see that around 90% of people said they will use their cell phone while driving. The same 90% also said they might also be eating food or drinking a soda.
Key Statistics:
How Many Times More Likely Are You To Crash While Texting?
You are 24 times more likely to crash your car texting while driving and 6x (times) more likely to cause an accident while texting and driving than you would from driving drunk. There really isn’t any reason to be on your phone when driving.
Key Statistics:
KEEP YOURSELF SAFE
Distracted Driving Statistics & Facts
How Many People Die From Distracted Driving?
Sadly, about 2,841 people died from distracted driving-related car crashes in 2018. In 2019, distracted driving was responsible for about 8.5% of all fatal motor crashes in America. While all of the crashes aren’t caused by texting while driving, a large majority still involved cell phone use.
Key Statistics:
How Many Accidents Are Caused By Distracted Driving?
Distracted driving was responsible for over 390,000 accidents and injuries in 2018. According to all police-reported traffic crashes, 14% of them were caused by distracted drivers. About 25% of them were between the ages of 20 and 29.
Key Statistics:
What Is The Definition Of Distracted Driving?
In “Plain English,” distracted driving is anytime you do something to take your attention away from focusing on driving. This means face timing, going live, doing it for the gram, talking on the phone, texting, or playing with your dog in the car are all forms of distracted driving.
What Is The Most Dangerous Kind Of Distracted Driving?
Texting is the worst type of distracted driving because it requires you to use every sense of driving. You take your eyes off the road, go down to one “or no” hands on the steering wheel, and your focus and attention for driving drops drastically. In fact, taking your eyes off the road for 5 seconds is equal to driving an entire football field with your eyes closed.
CDC | The Zebra | NHTSA | Crash Stats | Policy Advice | Quizlet | AAA | Drive Different |
Cell Phone Study & Driving Statistics For 2019
Is Cell Phone Use While Driving Dangerous?
Using a cell phone while driving is one of the most dangerous activities you can do. In 2019 88% of all our survey respondents stated that they use their smartphone while driving. 90% of our survey respondents also said that along with using the phone while driving, they would even probably eat or drink while driving.
Based on the above numbers we can easily see a direct correlation of the increase in smart phone use while driving with an increase of deaths caused by distracted driving. This trend is only increasing!
Key Statistics:
How Many Pedestrians Are Killed By Distracted Drivers?
About 16% of all traffic fatalities are made up by pedestrians, and in 2018 alone, 506 pedestrians were killed. Over 10 years, pedestrian deaths from distracted drivers have risen by over 27%. It doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
Based on the data above we can see that pedestrian deaths are increasing year after year. The data also shows us that drivers are seeing more pedestrians who are not looking both ways before they cross the street, instead they are looking at their cell phones.
Key Statistics:
Sources:
CDC | The Zebra | NHTSA | Crash Stats | Policy Advice | Quizlet | AAA | Drive Different |
Teen Texting And Driving Statistics
How Many Teens Die From Texting And Driving?
In 2018, about 202 teens (age 15 to 19) were killed in car accidents linked to texting and driving. Distracted teens are also responsible for killing about 256 people in crashes in 2018. In total, there were 217 distracted teens involved in fatal crashes in 2018.
Key Statistics:
How Many Teens Die A Day From Texting And Driving?
In the United States, 11 Teenagers are killed while texting and driving every day. This number doesn’t include anyone else in the car, only teen drivers killed while texting and driving.
How Many Teens Text And Drive?
About 38% of teens reported that they text while driving during a survey of more than 100,000 American teenagers. The amount of texting and driving also seemed to increase with the respondents' age, with 56% of people 18 and older saying they frequently text and drive.
Key Statistics:
What Percentage Of Teens Say They Don't Text And Drive?
65% of teens in America say they don’t text and drive, while about 77% of them say that their parents tell them not to text and drive. We need to increase both of these numbers to decrease the number of fatal accidents.
Sources:
Teen Driver Source | CDC | Edgar Snyder | AAFP | Do Something | Crash Stats | NHTSA | Victoria Advocate | The Zebra |
Distracted Driving & Insurance Statistics
Does A Texting Ticket Raise Insurance On Your Car?
Yes, suppose you are ticketed for distracted driving or texting while driving. In that case, you can see an average of a 16% increase in your monthly premiums. According to CarInsurance.com, in 2019, a driver texting ticket was increasing rates by up to 23%.
Key Statistics:
States With Largest Insurance Fines for Distracted Driving (Annually):
- 1Vermont – 56% (+$600)
- 2Montana – 33% (+$464)
- 3Oregon – 32% (+$440)
- 4Connecticut – 30% (+$463)
- 5North Carolina – 30% (+$289)
- 6Mississippi – 29% (+$446)
- 7Arizona – 29% (+$372)
- 8Maine – 29% (+$258)
- 9Michigan – 28% (+$762)
- 10California – 28% (+$510)
States with Smallest Insurance Fines for Distracted Driving Violation:
- 1New York – 5% (+$93)
- 2Wyoming– 6% (+$87)
- 3Hawaii – 9% (+$94)
- 4Texas – 10% (+$177)
- 5Kansas – 12% (+$180)
- 6Maryland – 13% (+$167)
- 7Pennsylvania – 13% (+$179)
- 8Idaho – 14% (+$138)
- 9Louisiana – 15% (+$347)
- 10Delaware – 15% (+$276)
Will Life Insurance Pay-Out For Distracted Driving?
Yes, in all but a few cases, life insurance will pay out if someone’s death is caused by distracted driving. The few issues are usually if you are killed while drinking and driving before your 2-year incontestability clause is up. This is because most insurance companies view drinking and driving deaths as suicide and don’t payout for the first 2 years of the policy.
Looking at the above charts we can see that even though we seem to have no problem risking our lives for a tweet here or a text there, or going live, or trying to get that perfect selfie, we aren't doing much to protect ourselves and our family if something happens.
Key Statistics:
The Zebra | Trusted Choice | NAIC | Carinsurance.com |
Taking Action
Concluding Thoughts
In all honesty, this doesn't look good for us; while we are all afraid of the reality that one day a rogue A.I. will take over and run the world, right now, it's our own cell phone that is causing our deaths.
Texting and driving really isn't worth the risk of having a much higher car insurance premium, nor is it worth dying over.
However, having some type of life insurance is essential. With instant life insurance or no medical exam life insurance, there is no excuse to not get covered. We must protect ourselves from this "new predator," known as the Cell Phone.
Sources:
Drive Different | NAIC | Crash Stats | AAA | Policy Advice | Quizlet | AAFP | Carinsurance.com | CDC | Dallas Car Accident Lawyers | Do Something | Drive Safe Online | Edgar Snyder | III | Net Safe Utah | NHTSA | Teen Driver Source | The Zebra | Trusted Choice | Victoria Advocate |
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