NHTSA Distracted Driving Traffic Safety Facts

Facts and figures on distracted driving.

Distracted driving is a behavior dangerous to drivers, passengers, and nonoccupants alike. Distraction is a specific type of inattention that occurs when drivers divert their attention from the driving task to focus on some other activity instead.

• Nine percent of fatal crashes in 2010 were reported as distraction-affected crashes. Fatal crashes involving distraction in 2010 should not be compared to fatal crashes involving distraction for years 2009 and prior due to significant changes in data collection.
• Eighteen percent of injury crashes in 2010 were reported as distraction-affected crashes.
• In 2010, 3,092 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers and an estimated additional 416,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.
• Of those people killed in distraction-affected crashes, 408 occurred in crashes in which at least one of the drivers was…