If you come across a distracted driver, they could cause a serious collision that leaves you with debilitating injuries. Unfortunately, distracted driving continues to occur far too often, and drivers lose focus for a host of reasons. Phones and other electronic devices, eating food, talking to people in the car and trying to read a map are some of the ways drivers become distracted.
Drivers need to go over data on distracted driving collisions in order to understand how prevalent these accidents are, as well as the impact of this dangerous behavior.
Injuries and deaths due to distracted driving
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that during 2019, roughly 424,000 people sustained injuries in distracted driving accidents. In addition, more than 3,100 people died due to traffic collisions that involved a driver who became distracted at the time of the accident. To look at this from a different angle, distracted drivers cause nine people to lose their lives each day, on average.
Other data on distracted driving collisions
In 2019, roughly 20% of those who died in distracted driving collisions were outside of vehicles, such as pedestrians and bicyclists. Moreover, fatal distracted driving accidents involved more drivers between 15 and 20 than other age groups. In fact, a 2019 survey found that 39% of high schoolers who operated a vehicle in the last 30 days had sent a text or email while driving.
If a distracted driver is responsible for a collision that has left you or a loved one with devastating injuries, it is very important to explore your options.