• March 23rd, 2022

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,142 people were killed in 2019 in motor vehicle crashes in the United States in which one or more drivers was reported as distracted (National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 2021). On a recent nationally-representative survey, 37% of respondents reported talking on a handheld cellphone while driving in the past 30 days, while 34% reported reading texts or emails and 23% reported typing texts or emails while driving (AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 2021). While it is generally acknowledged that distracted driving is underreported in crash data, it is well established that distracted driving interferes with safe driving and increases crash risk, though estimates of risk vary by specific behavior and context. Given the limited resources available for improving traffic safety, it is important to understand the effectiveness of various countermeasures against distracted driving that may be considered for implementation.

Read the full study here.