Distracted Driving In AZ, Elsewhere Killed 3,140 In 2020: Report

ARIZONA — Distracted driver is a deadly problem in Arizona, as well as the rest of the nation, with new estimates saying that 3,142 people died and 400,000 more were injured in car crashes in 2020 because drivers couldn't keep their eyes on the road.

Unsurprisingly, the primary culprits blamed for distracting drivers are cell phones and other electronic devices, the Governors Highway Safety Association said in a report on data about distracted-driving fatalities and injuries from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Deadly collisions can also happen in the time it takes a driver to take a swig of coffee, bite off a piece of sandwich or break up a fight between the kids, according to the safety association, a nonprofit policy and lobbying group whose members represent highway safety offices in the 50 states, U.S. territories and Native American Nations.

Here’s what you need to know about Arizona’s laws:

In Arizona, drivers are not allowed to use handheld electronic devices, such as cell phones, while driving. Handsfree devices are allowed, but texting is always prohibited.

School bus drivers are entirely prohibited from using cell phones while they drive, and new drivers receiving driving instruction and intermediate permit holders younger than 18 are also not allowed to use cell phones.

Distraction was listed as a factor in 15 percent of all police reports on motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2020, according to the report. Also, the report said, in crashes where distracted driving was a factor, 566 nonoccupants — pedestrians, bicyclists and others — were killed in 2020.

The actual toll of distracted driving may be higher, undercutting efforts to address the problem because it creates false perceptions about the persistent and dangerous nature of not paying attention while driving, the report said.

The GHSA has several prescriptions targeted at high-risk drivers. Drivers of all ages get distracted, the report pointed out, but research bears out teen drivers ages 15-20 are more likely than any other age group to be involved in a fatal crash where distraction was a factor.

Many are related to behavioral changes through education. Most Americans acknowledge distracted driving threatens their safety, yet still engage in activities that contribute to the problem — largely cell phone use, which the report called “rampant.”

For example, 80 percent of drivers think yakking on a hand-held phone while driving is extremely or very dangerous, yet 37 percent do it anyway. And nearly all drivers — 95 percent — say texting or sending an email is extremely or very dangerous, yet almost a quarter of them — 23 percent — confessed to doing it in the past 30 days, and 34 percent said they read on a hand-held device while driving.

One recommendation sure to get the attention of young drivers in Arizona: graduated driver licenses that limit how many teens can be in a car at a time.

Tell us what you think in the comments: Should the number of teens allowed in a car with a teen driver be limited? Do you think a limit would make our streets safer?