Full Notification

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness month, an effort to bring attention to the dangers of driving while distracted and to reduce this common cause of vehicle crashes. While using handheld mobile devices is most often associated with distracted driving, distracted driving includes anything that takes your mind off driving, your eyes off the roadway, or your hands off the steering wheel. Activities include cell phone use (texting and talking), grooming, using a PDA or GPS, changing music, eating, and talking to passengers as all these take a driver’s attention away from the primary task of driving.

To give an idea of the problems surrounding distracted driving:
-People who text while driving are 23 times more likely to die in a crash.
-Reaction time is 30 percent worse while texting and driving. Studies show a driver texting spends an average of 10 percent of the time outside the correct road lane.
-A driver whose eyes are off the road while traveling at 55mph covers more than the length of a football field in five (5) seconds, the average time it takes to look at a text message.
-In 2014, 3,179 people were killed and 431,000 were injured due to distracted drivers.
-Ten percent of teen drivers involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash.
-A study by the National Safety Council showed cell phone use is involved in at least 26 percent of all motor vehicle crashes.


Effective July 1, 2011, it became illegal to type, transmit, or read e-mail or text messages on a communication device while driving in Indiana.

On July 1, 2015, Indiana law was changed to prohibit Indiana drivers under the age of 21 from using cell phones and other communication devices while driving, except for 911 emergency calls.

For more information on distracted driving visit: http://in.gov/dol/2873.htm and take the pledge not to drive while distracted.