ATLANTA – A new report from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) and the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) shows that distracted driving played a role in more than half of all Georgia car crashes in 2022, according to a press release. The Georgia Traffic Safety Fact Sheet (GTFS) “Distracted Driving – 2022” indicates that 53% of traffic crashes in the state involved at least one confirmed or suspected distracted driver.
Distracted driving is defined as any activity that takes attention away from driving, including visual, manual, or cognitive distractions. While cell phone use is often associated with distracted driving, the behavior includes any action that takes the driver’s attention away from the road. According to the 2023 Georgia Distracted Driving Observational Survey conducted by Emory University’s Injury Prevention Research Center, one in five drivers in Georgia have been observed engaging in some form of distraction.
The data presented in the GTFS report underscores the significant threat distracted driving poses to public safety. The report finds that more than three-quarters of all distraction-related crashes in Georgia in 2022 involved at least one other vehicle or non-motorist, such as a pedestrian or bicyclist. Alarmingly, 13% of those killed or seriously injured in distraction-related crashes were pedestrians or bicyclists.
The World Health Organization has highlighted the dangers of using mobile phones while driving, finding that drivers who use a mobile phone are about four times more likely to be involved in an accident than those who do not use a mobile phone. This risk is further exacerbated by the fact that it impairs the driver’s ability to react, including braking and responding to traffic signals.
Allen Poole, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, emphasized the serious danger posed by distracted drivers. “This report shows how important it is to focus on driving and not on your smartphone or anything else that takes your attention off the road,” Poole said. He warned that the assumption many drivers make that they can safely text while driving is a dangerous mistake, as one mistake can cost lives.
Georgia’s hands-free law, which went into effect on July 1, 2018, prohibits drivers from holding or supporting a wireless telecommunications device or standalone electronic device while driving. The law includes texting, emailing, surfing the internet, or using social media while driving. Since the law went into effect, the number of distracted driving convictions processed by the Department of Driver Services (DDS) has increased 5.5 times in the first 18 months. There were nearly 49,000 distracted driving convictions in 2022 alone.
The report also highlights that drivers ages 15 to 24, who made up just 15% of all licensed drivers in Georgia in 2022, were involved in 26% of all distracted driving accidents. In addition, nearly a third of all distracted driving tickets in 2022 were issued to drivers in this age group.
The GTFS Distracted Driver 2022 fact sheet is based on data from multiple sources, including the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), crash data from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), and records from the Department of Public Health’s Crash Outcomes Data Evaluation System (CODES) and the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS). The findings underscore the ongoing challenge of combating distracted driving and the importance of continued awareness and enforcement efforts to improve traffic safety in Georgia.
