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Nov 16-22: National Teens Don’t Text and Drive Week

On June 8, a report was released stating that Tennessee bus crash that left two young girls and a teacher’s aide dead last December was the result of texting and driving. James Davenport, the driver of the bus, was found dead in his home on June 1.

While this story is tragic, texting and driving is far from unusual. A staggering 49 percent of adults admit to texting and driving, even though 98 percent of adults say they know the practice is unsafe.

Below are 10 statistics that show how dangerous texting and driving really is.

9 — Number of Americans killed every day from motor vehicle accidents that involved distracted driving, such as using a cellphone, texting or eating.

1 in 4 — The probability that a motor vehicle crash involved a cellphone.

40% — The percentage of teens who say they have been a passenger in a car whose driver used a cellphone in a way that put them in danger.

33% —The percentage of U.S. drivers ages 18 to 64 who reported reading or writing text messages while driving in the previous month. In comparison, only 15 percent of drivers from Spain reported texting while driving in the same period.

341,000 —Number of motor vehicle crashes in 2013 that involved texting

4X — How much using a cellphone while driving increases the risk of a crash.

2 — Number of seconds a driver can safely glance away from the road while operating a motor vehicle.

5 —Number of seconds drivers take their eyes off the road to send a text message, on average.

46 — Number of states (plus Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands) where texting is banned for all drivers, regardless of age.

21 – 24 — Age group most likely to send a text or email message while driving.

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