States with the Most Distracted Drivers

from QuoteWizard, April 27 2023 

Distracted driving has become so widespread that some call it an epidemic. Thousands of people die each year due to distracted driving.

The good news is that over the last 10 years, many efforts have been made to limit the use of handheld devices while driving. As a result, distracted driving is on the decline. In 2013, distracted driving fatalities accounted for 6.2% of all driving fatalities. Despite a decrease in distracted driving throughout the 2010s, it is once again on the rise and has increased by 7% since 2017.

To learn more about where these bad driving habits frequently occur, our team of analysts reviewed crash data to see which states have the most distracted drivers in the nation.

Key findings:

• New Mexico, Hawaii and New Jersey have the most distracted drivers.
• Mississippi, Nevada and Arkansas have the least distracted drivers.
• Distracted driving has increased by 7% since 2017.
• From 2017 to 2021, there were 14,620 fatal crashes involving distracted driving in the U.S.
• Ten percent of driver injuries due to crashes involve distracted driving.

What is distracted driving?

To put it simply: distracted driving means taking your eyes off the road. But there are many ways that drivers can become distracted at the wheel. Eating, talking with passengers and fiddling with your radio are all considered risky behaviors. According to the CDC, there are three main types of distractions:

• Visual: taking your eyes off the road
• Manual: taking your hands off the wheel
• Cognitive: taking your mind off driving

Talking and texting on cell phones is the leading cause of distracted driving incidents across the nation. The proliferation of smartphones only compounds drivers' level of distraction.

But distracted driving related to phones and other handheld devices is a fairly new occurrence. In 2001, New York became the first state to institute a ban on using handheld cell phones while driving. Since then, most states have followed suit by banning cell phone use while driving and issuing penalties.

States with the most distracted driving incidents

QuoteWizard analyzed National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) crash data to find which states have the highest rate of distracted driving crashes. We took the total number of fatal crashes involving distracted driving in each state from 2017 to 2021. We then ranked states based on the number of distracted driving car crashes as a percentage of total fatal car crashes. States are ranked from 1, the most distracted driving incidents, to 50, the least distracted driving incidents.