• In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in crashes involving driver distraction (16% of total fatalities)
  • The portion of drivers reportedly distracted at the time of the fatal crashes increased from 7 percent in 2005 to 11 percent in 2009.
  • The under-20 age group had the highest proportion of distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes (16%). The age group with the next greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the 20- to-29-year-old age group – 13 percent of all 20-to-29-year-old drivers in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted.
  • Of those drivers reportedly distracted during a fatal crash, the 30-to-39-year-old drivers were the group with the greatest proportion distracted by cell phones. Cell phone distraction was reported for 24 percent of the 30-to-39-year-old distracted drivers in fatal crashes.
  • An estimated 20 percent of 1,517,000 injury crashes were reported to have involved distracted driving in 2009.

- Distraction.gov – official US government website for distracted driving

 

From the statistics above you can see that while distracted driving is a major safety concern across all age groups, the problem is most common with the under-20 age drivers. Be proactive.

Talk to Your Teens  – A brochure from Distraction.gov on talking to your teens about distracted driving.

Read the whole brochure. Take action. As a preview, the six steps in the brochure are:

  1. Set a good example.
  2. Talk to your teen.
  3. Establish ground rules.
  4. Sign a pledge.
  5. Educate yourself.
  6. Spread the word.