West Bend Focus

Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Preventing distracted driving when pets are in the vehicle

The most distracted drivers on the road

Peekaboo, we see you: Don't drive and text

In 2019, there were 228,679,719 licensed drivers and 299,267,114 registered vehicles in the United States. Drivers drove a total of over three trillion miles.¹

36,096

The number of people killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes on US roadways during 2019.

2.74 million

The estimated number of people injured on our roadways

According to the NHTSA,
distracted driving led to:

3,600 deaths in 2019
3,142 deaths in 2018
2,628 deaths in 2017

In 2018 about one in five people who died in crashes involving a distracted driver WERE NOT in vehicles ― these people were walking, riding their bikes, or otherwise outside a vehicle.²

Nine percent of fatal crashes, 15 percent of injury crashes, and 15 percent of all police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2019 were reported as distraction-affected crashes

Nine percent of drivers 15 to 20 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted at the time of fatal crashes

In 2020, 22.7% drivers reported that they sent emails or a text messages on hand-held cell phones within the past 30 days.³

One in three teens who text say they have done so while driving. Research indicates that dialing a phone while driving increases a teen’s risk of crashing by six times. Texting while driving increases the risk of crashing by 23 times.⁴