Texting and Driving Statistics That Will Make You Think

Disclosure: I receive a fee for participating in certain promotional campaigns for Ford Motor Company. All views and opinions expressed are my own.

Has a Father of a couple teens drivers, I feel it is important for me to educate and remind them of driving safety tips. So what better way to share is with the leading distractions in a vehicle and some texting & driving statistics. I know when I read over the statistics below, I was pretty shocked, and found myself guilty before. Hopefully after sharing these stats with my kids, with daily reminders this would make them think about being a detraction free driver.

The 9 leading distractions in a vehicle are;

• Texting
• Using a cell phone or smartphone
• Eating and drinking
• Talking to passengers
• Grooming
• Reading, including maps
• Using a navigation system
• Watching a video
• Adjusting a radio, CD player, or MP3 player

Texting and Driving Statistics That Will Make You Think

Texting While Driving:

• Makes you 23X more likely to crash – National Hwy Transportation Safety Admin.
• Is the same as driving blind for 5 seconds at a time – VA. Tech Transportation Institute
• Takes place by 800,000 drivers at any given time across the country
• Slows your brake reaction speed by 18% – HumanFactors & Ergonomics Society
• Leads to a 400% increase with eyes off the road

Texting While Driving is:

• About 6 times more likely to cause an accident than driving intoxicated.
• The same as driving after 4 beers – National Hwy Transportation Safety Admin.
• The number one driving distraction reported by teen drivers

Texting While Driving Causes:

• 1,600,000 accidents per year – National Safety Council
• 330,000 injuries per year – Harvard Center for Risk Analysis Study
• 11 teen deaths EVERY DAY – Ins. Institute for Hwy Safety Fatality Facts
• Nearly 25% of ALL car accidents

Ford Driving Skills for Life – A Safe Driving Solution

Ford Driving Skills for Life (Ford DSFL) was established in 2003 by Ford Motor Company Fund, the Governors Highway Safety Association, and a panel of safety experts to teach newly licensed teens the necessary skills for safe driving beyond what they learn in standard driver education programs.

The program is international in scope touching not only the United States but many areas around the world.The basic premise behind Ford Driving Skills for Life is to provide a step in the learning process, providing new skills and information not currently shared with newly licensed drivers in the basic driver education courses.

Training is conducted in both hands-on and web-based curriculum and the entire program is available at no cost.Training conducted under the Ford Driving Skills for Life program addresses both the inexperience factor as well as issues surrounding distracted driving. Results over the past ten years of this effort have been outstanding. For best results, we encourage both teens and parents to engage in the instruction together.

Resource pages: TextingandDrivingSafety.com & Distraction.gov