This U.S. State Has the Most Distracted Drivers, According to a Report

There’s a lot to love about road-tripping through the United States. It allows you to see vast areas of the nation you couldn’t see by plane, lets you to pull off and explore wherever you’d like, and change course as you please, traveling to wherever the wind takes you. However, heading out on the road also comes with its own challenges and risks — namely, the risk of other drivers. 

In July, Auto Accident Team released its study analyzing the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for 2022 to discover which states had the highest percentage of fatal crashes involving drivers distracted by cell phones. After looking at all the data, it named North Dakota the worst offending state. 

“North Dakota tops the list of the deadliest states for phone use, with 2.61 percent, or one in 39 drivers, involved in fatal crashes reported as distracted by cell phones,” the findings, shared with Travel + Leisure, stated. “This rate is over four times the national average of 0.62 percent. In total, four out of North Dakota’s 153 drivers in fatal crashes were reported as distracted by their phones.” 

The findings added that the most common types of reported phone distractions in North Dakota were “drivers manipulating or talking on a phone while driving, with two drivers each.” 

Following closely behind North Dakota is Kansas, with 2.6 percent of drivers in fatal crashes reported being distracted by phones, more than four times the national average. “Other phone-related factors” were the most reported distractions for drivers in the Sunflower State, meaning the driver was using a phone but not talking on it or listening to it. 

Montana came in third with 2.35 percent of drivers in fatal crashes distracted by cell phones, followed by Utah and Minnesota rounding out the top five offenders.  

“Driving can see a routine journey become an emergency in an instant, with only seconds to avert a potential disaster. This is why drivers must always remain focused on driving when behind the wheel,” Leo Danconia, CEO of Auto Accident Team, said in a statement. “When drivers use a phone, it takes much longer to react to developing situations since they are not focusing on the road. At best, their attention is split, and at worst, they are only looking at their phone and are unaware of their surroundings.” 

Danconia added that it only takes a second to head toward or away from tragedy. 

“The seconds it may take a driver to refamiliarize themselves with the situation on the road may be too late to avoid a tragedy,” Danconia said. “At 50 miles per hour, a car can cover 73 feet in a second, and even at 30 miles per hour, a car can still cover 44 feet per second. That can easily be the difference between life and death.” 

So, on your next road trip stay alert of those around you. And leave your cell phone in the glove compartment so you can focus on the epic journey ahead instead.