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Traffic Safety Facts

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TRAFFIC SAFETY FACTS Research Note DOT HS 811 379 1 September 2010 Distracted Driving 2009 Highlights „„ In 2009, 5,474 people were killed on U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving (FARS and GES). „„ Of those people killed in distracted-driving-related crashes, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). „„ Of those injured in distracted-driving-related crashes, 24,000 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (5% of injured people in distraction-related crashes). „„ Sixteen percent of fatal crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. „„ Twenty …show more content…

During that time, fatal crashes with reported driver distraction also increased from 10 percent to 16 percent. As reported for 2009, 4,898 fatal crashes occurred that involved distraction, which includes single-vehicle crashes and multivehicle crashes. For single-vehicle crashes, the driver was reported as distracted and thus the crash was reported as a distracted-driving crash. However, in multivehicle crashes, the crash was reported as a distracted-driving crash if at least one driver was reported as distracted. In some of these multivehicle crashes, multiple drivers were reported as distracted. In 2009, 5,084 drivers were reported as distracted in the 4,898 fatal crashes involving distraction. The portion of drivers reportedly distracted at the time of the fatal crashes increased from 7 percent in 2005 to 11 percent in 2009. In 2009, 867 fatal crashes were reported to have involved cell phones as distraction (18% of all fatal distracted-driving crashes). For these crashes, the police reported that the cell phone was either in use at the time of the crash or was in the presence of the driver at the time of the crash. Cell phones were reported as distraction for 20 percent of the distracted drivers in fatal crashes. A total of 995 people died in fatal crashes that involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction. Most of the distracted-driving-related fatalities (84%) were

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