Per the most recent traffic accident data gathered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted drivers caused more than 3,275 fatalities in 2025. Although millions of people lose their lives each year because of road accidents, these accidents represented 8% of the total fatal crashes that year. The data also revealed that approximately 325,000 people suffered mild-to-serious injuries from this highly preventable problem.
What Actions Are Distracting Drivers?
Any purposeful action on a driver’s part that causes them to lose attention is a distracted driving event. The most common activities include drinking a beverage, eating food, talking to passengers or people on a handheld or hands-free phone, texting or emailing on a phone or other device, switching a radio’s channels or volume, engaging in some way with an entertainment system, and using a touchscreen or voice-activated navigation system.
As noted by the NHTSA, distracted drivers essentially close their eyes while speeding down roads. A driver who looks at something other than the road in front of them for 5 seconds at 55 mph closes their eyes for a distance equivalent to a 360-foot football field. In some cases, these drivers combine distractions with other risky habits like abusing substances, driving at unsafe distances behind other vehicles, and speeding above posted limits.
States That Have the Worst Statistics
A 2024 study conducted by Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) for the Governors Highway Safety Administration (GHSA) found that drivers in southern states seem to be the most distracted in terms of regional phone-based causes of traffic accidents. From Louisiana to North Carolina, a thousand miles of roads, these drivers spent more than 2 minutes per hour talking on their phones, which was 27% higher than the average across the country. That said, this region didn’t have the highest phone time cases. The worst state for phone usage was Rhode Island, with a slightly longer talk time per hour.
The other states that round out the top 10 for the worst phone usage times were Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, Kansas, Georgia, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Distracted driving is a leading cause of traffic deaths; Oklahoma alone saw nearly 700 traffic fatalities in 2023. Drivers in all of these states spent more time talking on the phone than one commercial break on television made up of three to four advertisements.
Why Do These States Have Problems?
The GHSA and CMT study found that just using a phone while driving makes a person 240% more likely to cause a traffic accident. Sadly, many states don’t have handheld phone bans, and few ban the use of other types of dangerous electronics. In some states that have bans, a driver can still answer incoming calls with a seconds-long swiping gesture.
Some the worst states don’t have official laws banning handheld cell phone usage when behind the wheel, while other southern states have stricter laws. Georgia has a “hands-free-driving” law that prohibits drivers from holding a device in their hand at all times. Even in states that have harsh penalties for talking or texting while driving, many drivers still use their phones in unapproved ways. They don’t know the laws or forget their road safety responsibilities while rushing in their daily lives.
Of course, phones aren’t the only problem. Distracted drivers learned some of their bad habits from whoever taught them to drive. Additionally, vehicle manufacturers have increased installation of built-in dashboard electronic systems. In light of these risks, manufacturers now provide more warning systems that alert drivers to things they can’t see while looking away from roads, such as vehicles too close to their own or that stop suddenly in front of them.
Yet, traffic safety experts continue to recommend education and public awareness campaigns as the top methods for reducing distraction-related crashes. Even a voice-based GPS can negatively affect attention by providing incorrect information that temporarily causes a driver to become frustrated and lose focus. A person who studies a route on a map before travel is overall safer than one who uses voice turn-by-turn directions.