The State of Distracted Driving in 2023 & the Future of Road Safety
CMT’s The State of Distracted Driving in 2023 & the Future of Road Safety report is the most comprehensive research available on naturalistic distracted driving behaviors at scale. The report covers distraction behavior trends from 2020 through 2022 across the US, the progress of individual states, the impact of hands-free legislation, studies on how telematics reduces distraction, driver sentiment, how distraction influences crash rates, and more.
Report excerpt
Every 10% increase in distracted driving kills over 420 people and costs the American economy $4 billion every year. With a 23% surge in distraction since 2020, CMT estimates that the increase in distracted driving caused an additional 420,000 crashes, 1,000 fatalities, and $10 billion in damages to the US economy in 2022.
From 2020 to 2022, distracted driving increased by over 20% in the United States. The two foundational metrics for distracted driving, phone motion and screen interaction, rose by 21% and 23%, respectively, over the past 3 years. The increase in crashes when drivers handle their phones and interact with their screens is stark: The worst offenders are over 240% more likely to crash than the safest drivers.
By almost every metric CMT measures, distracted driving is more present than ever on US roadways. Drivers are spending more time using their phones while driving and doing it on more trips. Drivers interacted with their phones on nearly 58% of trips in 2022, up from 54% in 2020, an 8% rise. Thirty-four percent of phone motion distraction happens above 50 mph, the highest rate in 3 years.