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

COLORADO — Distracted driving led to more than 3,100 deaths and 400,000 injuries across the United States in 2020, according to a new report.

The Governors Highway Safety Association released data about distracted-driving fatalities and injuries from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The report shows that cell phones and other electronic devices are the primary distraction.

Fatal crashes can also happen in the time it takes a driver gulp down some coffee, take a bite from a 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.

There is a law that bans text messaging for all drivers in Colorado. Regular cell phone use for voice calls is allowed in our state, but headphones need to worn in one ear when on the phone. Any driver under age 18 is prohibited from using a cell phone at all while driving.

Adult drivers in Colorado who cause a distracted driving crash involving bodily injury or death face up to one year in prison, a $1,000 fine, or both.

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 Colorado: graduated driver licenses that limit how many teens can be in a car at a time.