PA Distracted Driving Fatalities Increase, PennDOT Reports

PENNSYLVANIA —As more motorists are back on the road in 2021, the number of distracted driving fatalities in Pennsylvania has increased 27% from 47 in 2020 to 60 in 2021, according to PennDOT crash data reports.

The numbers of distracted driving fatalities over the past two decades have been fluctuating from a high of 81 in 2005 to a low of 47 in 2020, during the height of the pandemic.

PennDOT officials said Friday while the number of distracted fatalities have fluctuated over the recent years, the state agency has made an all out effort to reduce distracted driving.

“Distracted driving is serious and preventable,” Jan Huzar, PennDOT spokeswoman, said Friday afternoon. “We work hard through education and highway safety efforts to reduce distracted driving.”

Huzar’s comments are in response to a report by the Governor’s Highway 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.

The report concluded that distracted driving remains a deadly problem across the country.

The report cited estimates that 3,142 people died and 400,000 people nationwide were injured in car crashes in 2020 because people weren’t paying attention to their driving.

The primary distraction: Cell phones and other electronic devices, the association said in a report on data about distracted-driving fatalities and injuries from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Fatal crashes can also happen in the time it takes a driver to gulp down some coffee, take a bite from a sandwich or break up a fight between the kids, according to the safety association report.

Distraction was listed as a factor in 15% 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.

Pennsylvania law

In Pennsylvania, there is a texting-while-driving ban — established in 2012 — that prohibits drivers from using cellphones and other devices to send texts, instant messages, emails, or browsing the internet while driving.

This is considered a primary offense, which means you can be pulled over solely for the reason of using a device for electronic communications, and comes with a $50 fine, if convicted.

In November 2016, Governor Tom Wolf signed "Daniel's Law," which enhances the penalties for an accident caused by texting while driving resulting in serious bodily injury or death.

Under Pennsylvania law, drivers who text and cause a fatality will receive a five-year jail sentence. Drivers who cause bodily injury while texting and driving will receive a two-year jail sentence.

High-risk drivers

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 association's report said.

The association 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.

Young Driver Law

In Pennsylvania, the law allows young drivers to have only one non-family member under 18 with them in the vehicle.

After six months on the junior license, the restriction rises to no more than three passengers under 18. Immediate family members are excluded from the restriction.