Texting and Driving Statistics

Here are some statistics that highlight the dangers of texting and driving:

• A study found that 49 percent of boys ages 15-18 admitted to texting while driving compared with 45 percent of girls. Older teens are more likely to text – Only 24 percent of 15-year-olds tap out messages while driving, compared with 58 percent of 18-year-olds, the data showed. 
• One-third of adults ages 30-64 admit to using a cell phone while driving.
• In 2018, 2,841 people were killed in distracted driving crashes. An additional 400,000 people were injured.
• Nearly one in five crashes (18%) in which someone is injured involves distracted driving.
• Americans send more than 200 billion text messages each year.
• Students who text while driving are nearly twice as likely to ride with a driver who has been drinking and five times as likely to drink and drive than students who don’t text while driving.
• According to a study by Cohen Children’s Medical Center, more teens die from texting while driving than die from drinking and driving.
• Texting while driving laws vary by state and from country to country. According to CNN, in several countries, texting behind the wheel is punishable by jail.

According to GuardChild’s Distracted Driving Statistics:

• Texting while driving is more dangerous than talking, dialing, or reaching for the phone.
• A driver dialing a cell phone is 2.8 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-distracted driver.