Full Notification

2015 Distracted Driving Awareness Month
Key Facts & Statistics
California Data
• In 2013, the California Department of Motor Vehicles reported over 426,000 handheld cell phone and texting convictions, with more than 57,000 tickets issued in April alone. (California DMV and the California Office of Traffic Safety)

• In 2014, 61% of California drivers surveyed said they had been hit or nearly hit by a driver who was talking or texting on a cell phone. (California Traffic Safety Survey)

• In 2014, nearly 40% of Californians surveyed thought texting or talking on a cell phone while driving posed the biggest safety problem on California roadways. (California Traffic Safety Survey)

• In 2014, more than 50% of Californians surveyed said that texting while driving is the most serious distraction for drivers. (California Traffic Safety Survey)

• In 2014, nearly 53% of drivers admitted to making a driving mistake while talking on a cell phone. (California Traffic Safety Survey)

• The total percentage of distracted driving due to electronic devices observed decreased from 7.4% in 2013 to 6.4% in 2014, a 13.5% reduction and the lowest since surveys began in 2011. (CA Statewide Observational Survey of Cell Phone & Texting Use by Drivers)

National and General Data
• As of January 2015, 44 states banned text messaging for all drivers. (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration)

• According to the latest data from NHTSA, nationwide in 2013, 3,154 people were killed and an estimated additional 424,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. This represents a 6.7 percent decrease in the number of fatalities recorded in 2012. (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration)

• Ten percent of drivers of all ages under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted. (Distraction.gov)

• Engaging in visual-manual subtasks (such as reaching for a phone, dialing and texting) associated with the use of hand-held phones and other portable devices increased the risk of getting into a crash by three times. (Virginia Tech Transportation Institute)

• Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted. (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, VTTI)

• A quarter of teens respond to a text message once or more every time they drive. Twenty percent of teens and 10 percent of parents admit that they have extended, multi-message text conversations while driving. (University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute Library)

• Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55mph, that's enough time to cover the length of a football field blindfolded. (Virginia Tech Transportation Institute)