Distracted driving adds to traffic fatality rate
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Cellphone use behind the wheel is down in Colorado as the state targets distracted driving.
Why it matters: About 3,300 people died nationwide in crashes attributed to distracted driving in 2022, and another 289,000 were injured, the federal data shows.
- Over 62,000 crashes involved distracted cell phone usage in 2022 alone.
Zoom in: Colorado has cracked down on distracted driving this year by making it illegal to use a cellphone while driving unless it's a hands-free device.
- Since taking effect Jan. 1, Colorado Highway Patrol officers issued 94 distracted-driving tickets — a 135% increase from the same period a year before, the Denver Post reports.
- Phone use behind the wheel is down 3% so far, a Cambridge Mobile Telematics found.
State of play: Colorado counted 764 fatalities in 2022, a rate of 13 out of every 100,000 drivers, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.
- Colorado's rate dipped in the 2000s but began to slowly rise in the last decade, spurred in part by a spike in the pandemic era.
- In 2023 and 2024, preliminary state data shows a decrease in the trend.
What they're saying: These stats likely underestimate the problem because crash data often relies on drivers self-reporting distractions to law enforcement, National Safety Council executive vice president of safety leadership and advocacy Mark Chung tells Axios.
- "A lot of us feel like we can multitask, but we know from studies that there's no such thing as multitasking," Chung says. "The human brain does not allow for it."
- "The cognitive challenges that one faces while distracted when driving, it's almost like being drunk."
Editor's note: This story was updated with state data showing a downward trend in traffic fatalities in 2023 and 2024.