The Department of Transportation works to reduce the occurrence of distracted driving and raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. This risky behavior poses a danger to vehicle occupants as well as nonoccupants such as pedestrians and bicyclists. Driver distraction is a specific type of driver inattention. Distraction occurs when drivers divert their attention from the driving task to focus on some other activity. Oftentimes, discussions regarding distracted driving center around cell phone use and texting, but distracted driving also includes other activities such as eating, talking to other passengers, or adjusting the radio or climate controls, to name but a few. A distraction-affected crash is any crash in which a driver was identified as distracted at the time of the crash.
■■ Ten percent of fatal crashes, 18 percent of injury crashes, and 16 percent of all motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2012 were reported as distraction-affected crashes.
■■ In 2012, there were 3,328 people killed and an estimated additional 421,000 injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.
■■ Ten percent of all drivers 15 to 19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crashes. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted.
■■ In 2012, there were 540 nonoccupants killed in distraction affected crashes.
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