Driver Distraction: Put Down Your Mobile Phone

With everything from BlackBerrys to iPhones, it can be difficult to resist the urge to check your email and text while driving. But studies have shown that using your phone on the road can significantly increase your risk for an accident.

On this page, you'll find hazards and statistics that are powerfully persuasive. If you don't already think distracted driving is a safety problem, please take a moment to learn more.

Hazards of Driver Using Phones

This autumn, the dangers of cell phones on the road became increasingly more apparent as a study showed that texting while driving was more dangerous than drinking and driving.

Here are 5 facts you may not know about the dangers of using your phone on the road.

1. 18-25 year old drivers talking on a cell phone with a headset reacted as slowly as a 65 to 74-year driver without any distractions.

2. Drivers talking on cell phones were 18 percent slower in hitting their brakes than those without cell phones.

3. Drivers on cell phones took 17 percent longer to regain speed when they braked.

4. Texting while driving increases your risk for an accident by nearly six times as much as driving without distractions.

Distracted Driving Statistics

As of December 2014, 169.3 billion text messages were sent in the US (includes PR, the Territories, and Guam) every month.(CTIA)

Drivers in their 20s are 23 percent of drivers in all fatal crashes, but are 27 percent of the distracted drivers and 38 percent of the distracted drivers who were using cell phones in fatal crashes. (NHTSA)

The percentage of drivers text-messaging or visibly manipulating hand-held devices increased from 1.7 percent in 2013 to 2.2 percent in 2014. Since 2007, young drivers (age 16 to 24) have been observed manipulating electronic devices at higher rates than older drivers. (NHTSA)

At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010. (NOPUS)