According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 31 percent of U.S. drivers ages 18–64 admit to texting or emailing while driving within the past 30 days. While taking a second to check that email or text message might seem innocuous, texting while driving is a major contributor to auto accident injuries and fatalities around the nation.
Whether you’re driving back home to Provo, Utah or just taking a quick trip to meet your lawyer friend at his favorite restaurant, you can wait to send a text until you are no longer behind the wheel. If not, it could cost you your life — or someone else’s.
The following are the most recent statistics regarding texting and driving accidents, injuries and fatalities — from Provo to the East Coast.
Cell Phone Accident & Injury Statistics
- 1 out of 4 car accidents in the U.S. involve using a cell phone while driving.
- Cell phone use while driving causes 1.6 million accidents every year.
- Using a cell phone while driving is responsible for 330,000 injuries every year.
- Texting while driving is 6x more likely to cause a crash than drunk driving.
- Using a cell phone while driving makes you 23x more likely to get into an auto accident.
- Texting while driving takes your eyes off the road for an average of 5 seconds.
- Texting and driving increases the time your eyes are off the road by 400%.
- In 2014, 431,000 people were injured due to distracted drivers.
Cell Phone Fatality Statistics
- 11 teens die every day from crashes that involved using a cell phone while driving.
- 15% of drivers ages 15–19 involved in fatal crashes in 2013 were distracted by cell phones at the time of the crash.
- On average 6,000 people die from cell phone-related crashes every year.
- 21% of teenagers involved in fatal crashes were using their cell phones at the time of the accident.
- In 2014, 3,179 people were killed due to distracted driving.
- Drivers in their 20s make up 38% of distracted drivers who were using their cell phones in fatal accidents.
If you or a family member has been injured due to texting and driving, contact a lawyer at the offices of Robert J. DeBry & Associates for your free quote. Our lawyer teams are on call to assist clients from Provo to St. George with their auto accident cases.
An auto accident due to texting and driving is a serious issue. Whether you live in Provo or elsewhere in Utah, contact a lawyer at Robert J. DeBry & Associates today and get a head start on your case.