Distracted Driving In Delco Increasing, State Data Shows

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — Distracted drivers pose one of the biggest risk factors on the road.

And in Delaware County, distracted driving instances are increasing, according to the Pennsylvania Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

The office recently reported 5.07 percent of all distracted driving offenses — 10,291 total from 2020 to 2024 — in the state occur in Delaware County.

But what does that look like in raw numbers?

Data shows over that same period of time, there were 522 distracted driving offenses in Delco.

And despite one outlier year, the county's number of distracted driving offenses has increased annually.

Notably, the increase from 2023 to 2024 was nearly double.

Below are the number of distracted driving offenses from 2020 to 2024 in Delaware County:

• 2020 — 80
• 2021 — 95
• 2022 — 109
• 2023 — 89
• 2024 — 149

Delco's trend of increasing distracted driving offenses rejects the statewide trend, which has decreased yearly, save for a slight bump in offenses in 2023.

Allegheny and Montgomery counties had the most distracted drivers, with 897 and 839 total, respectively, from 2020 to 2021.

Cameron County had the lowest number of distracted driving offenses, with just three reported in that same time period. Cameron County has a population of about 4,440.

Statewide, 30 percent of distracted driving offenders were in their 20s, and 71 percent of distracted drivers were men.

And of all the citations issued, 57 percent were issued by Pennsylvania State Police and 43 by local municipal police.

Distracted driving offenses in Pennsylvania can be issued for using headphones while driving, using a handheld mobile phone while driving a commercial vehicle, or texting while driving. Texting includes sending, reading or writing a text-based message.