Report Lists States With Most Distracted Driver Related Fatalities
- New Mexico has the highest rate of fatal crashes involving distracted drivers at 40.75%
- Hawaii is second with 28.72%, while Kansas is third with 21.26%
- Mobile phone use and reaching for objects in the vehicle, were among the most common avoidable distractions that led to fatal driver incidents.
A new study has revealed that New Mexico has the highest rate of fatal crashes involving distracted drivers in America.
Business litigation and personal injury lawyers at Heninger Garrison Davis analyzed the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to see which state has the highest proportion of fatal crashes involving distracted drivers.
New Mexico tops the list with a staggering 40.75% of fatal incidents (174 out of 427), involving a distracted driver. This proportion of fatal crashes involving a distracted driver is more than five times greater than the national rate of 8.12% observed across America.
Hawaii has the second most fatal crashes involving a distracted driver, with 28.72% of its crashes involving a driver or 27 out of 94 total fatal crashes. This proportion of fatal crashes is more than three and a half times the national rate for crashes involving distracted drivers.
Kansas is third for fatal crashes involving drivers reported to be distracted, with 81 of its 381 total fatal crashes involving a distracted driver, a value of 21.26%. This is over two and a half times the national rate of 8.12%.
Louisiana has the fourth highest rate of fatal crashes involving distracted drivers, at 19.5%. 173 of its 887 total fatal crashes involved a distracted driver, which is 2.4 times higher than the national rate.
New Jersey’s sees 129 out of 669 fatal crashes involving a distracted driver, making it the fifth highest in the US, at a rate of 19.28%. This is more than 2.3 times the national rate for fatal crashes involving distracted drivers.
The remainder of the top ten states includes; Washington in sixth (16.75%), Illinois in seventh (16.36%), Kentucky eighth (16.35%), Virginia ninth (11.81%) and Idaho in tenth (10.66%).
The 10 most commonly reported driver distractions
The study also uncovered the most frequently reported distractions that were involved in fatal crashes across America.
The most common of these were mobile phone related (384 cases), being distracted by an outside person, object or event (267 cases), and being distracted by other occupants in the vehicle (151 cases).
While these figures appear low in comparison to the total number of fatal crashes across America, many incidents were not reported to the NHTSA alongside a specific distraction.
|
Rank |
Distraction |
Number of Fatal Crashes (2021) |
|
1. |
Mobile phone related |
384 |
|
2. |
Distracted by outside person, object or event |
267 |
|
3. |
By other occupant(s) |
151 |
|
4. |
While using or reaching for device/object brought into vehicle |
117 |
|
5. |
While using other components/controls integral to vehicle |
75 |
|
6. |
Adjusting audio or climate controls |
43 |
|
7. |
Eating or drinking |
42 |
|
8. |
Lost in thought/day dreaming |
20 |
|
9. |
By a moving object in vehicle |
13 |
|
10. |
Smoking related |
7 |
A spokesperson for Heninger Garrison Davis commented on the study’s findings:
“The NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System is a crucial tool for illuminating how and why fatal crashes happen on our roads.
“Highlighting the most commonly reported distractions will hopefully generate greater awareness among road users of just how dangerous these behaviours can be, and potentially mitigate the frequency and severity of crashes in the future.
“Using your cell phone, or reaching for other devices brought into your vehicle, are both completely avoidable diversions of your attention, yet ranked as some of the most common factors influencing fatal incidents.
“This is particularly important, as the number of technology-related distractions are likely to only increase in the future, so it is important that we are mindful of responding to these in a way that is safe for ourselves and other road users.”
Table showing fatal crashes involving a distracted driver in each state as a percentage of total fatal crashes
|
Rank |
State |
Crashes Involving a Distracted Driver |
Total Fatal Crashes |
% of crashes involving a distracted driver |
|
1. |
New Mexico |
174 |
427 |
40.75% |
|
2. |
Hawaii |
27 |
94 |
28.72% |
|
3. |
Kansas |
81 |
381 |
21.26% |
|
4. |
Louisiana |
173 |
887 |
19.50% |
|
5. |
New Jersey |
129 |
669 |
19.28% |
|
6. |
Washington |
101 |
603 |
16.75% |
|
7. |
Illinois |
198 |
1,210 |
16.36% |
|
8. |
Kentucky |
120 |
734 |
16.35% |
|
9. |
Virginia |
107 |
906 |
11.81% |
|
10. |
Idaho |
26 |
244 |
10.66% |
|
11. |
Colorado |
65 |
638 |
10.19% |
|
12. |
Delaware |
13 |
132 |
9.85% |
|
13. |
New York |
106 |
1,099 |
9.65% |
|
14. |
Massachusetts |
38 |
397 |
9.57% |
|
15. |
Texas |
386 |
4,068 |
9.49% |
|
16. |
Montana |
21 |
222 |
9.46% |
|
17. |
Florida |
293 |
3,451 |
8.49% |
|
18. |
Missouri |
78 |
931 |
8.38% |
|
19. |
Maine |
11 |
135 |
8.15% |
|
20. |
Oklahoma |
49 |
681 |
7.20% |
|
21. |
North Carolina |
110 |
1,535 |
7.17% |
|
22. |
Indiana |
61 |
863 |
7.07% |
|
23. |
Wisconsin |
40 |
572 |
6.99% |
|
24. |
Arizona |
73 |
1,063 |
6.87% |
|
25. |
Maryland |
35 |
522 |
6.70% |
|
26. |
New Hampshire |
7 |
106 |
6.60% |
|
27.= |
North Dakota |
5 |
85 |
5.88% |
|
27.= |
Wyoming |
6 |
102 |
5.88% |
|
28. |
Tennessee |
72 |
1,229 |
5.86% |
|
29. |
Oregon |
32 |
552 |
5.80% |
|
30. |
Minnesota |
26 |
451 |
5.76% |
|
31. |
Michigan |
60 |
1,072 |
5.60% |
|
32. |
Alabama |
46 |
885 |
5.20% |
|
33. |
Iowa |
17 |
329 |
5.17% |
|
34. |
Rhode Island |
3 |
61 |
4.92% |
|
35. |
Pennsylvania |
53 |
1,153 |
4.60% |
|
36. |
Ohio |
54 |
1,242 |
4.35% |
|
37. |
South Carolina |
47 |
1,112 |
4.23% |
|
38. |
Nebraska |
8 |
192 |
4.17% |
|
39. |
California |
131 |
3,983 |
3.29% |
|
40. |
Utah |
9 |
293 |
3.07% |
|
41. |
South Dakota |
4 |
131 |
3.05% |
|
42. |
Mississippi |
21 |
697 |
3.01% |
|
43. |
Arkansas |
19 |
631 |
3.01% |
|
44. |
Georgia |
49 |
1,670 |
2.93% |
|
45. |
Connecticut |
8 |
283 |
2.83% |
|
46. |
West Virginia |
7 |
257 |
2.72% |
|
47. |
Nevada |
7 |
360 |
1.94% |
|
48. = |
Alaska |
0 |
59 |
0.00% |
|
48. = |
Vermont |
0 |
69 |
0.00% |
|
|
US Total |
3,208 |
39,508 |
8.12% |
END
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Methodology:
The NHTSA FARS 2021 National Dataset was used in this study.
When looking across states, the reporting of whether a driver was distracted or not is often listed as ‘not reported’, which means that the incidence of distracted driving-related fatal crashes may be higher than reported by the NHTSA.
When considering types of distractions, the ‘Mobile Phone Related’ category was combined from ‘Other Mobile Phone Related (143)’, ‘While Manipulating Mobile Phone (133)’, and ‘While Talking or Listening to Mobile Phone (108)’ categories on NHTSA.