(Media release from the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety):
A new report from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) and the Georgia Department of Public Health’s (DPH) Crash Outcomes Data Evaluation System (CODES) found more than half of the motor vehicle traffic crashes in the state in 2022 were a distraction-related crash. The Georgia Traffic Safety Fact Sheet (GTFS) “Distracted Driving – 2022” data found 53 percent of all motor vehicle traffic crashes in Georgia involved at least one confirmed or suspected distracted driver.
Driver distraction occurs when drivers divert their attention from the driving task to focus on some other activity. While most people associate phones with distracted driving, the behavior is defined as anything visually, manually, or cognitively that takes the driver’s focus from operating a motor vehicle. Phone use may involve multiple types of distraction. The 2023 Georgia Distracted Driving Observational Survey conducted by the Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory University found at least one out of five drivers in Georgia were observed to have some form of distraction.
The data in the GTSF report shows distracted driving is a threat to public safety. More than three-fourths of all distraction-related crashes in Georgia in 2022 involved at least one other vehicle or non-motorist besides the distracted driver and 13 percent of those killed or seriously injured in a confirmed distraction related crash were pedestrians or bicyclists.
According to the World Health Organization, “Drivers using mobile phones are approximately 4 times more likely to be involved in a crash than drivers not using a mobile phone. Using a phone while driving impacts the driver’s reaction time (notably braking reaction time and reaction to traffic signals).”
“Distracted driving remains a serious threat to everyone and this report shows the importance of focusing on driving instead of your smartphone or anything else that takes your attention away from the road,” Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety said. “Everyone thinks they can text and drive but the reality is, we all make mistakes and one mistake behind the wheel can cost you or someone else their life.”
Since Georgia’s Hands-free law was enacted on July 1, 2018, the number of distracted driving convictions processed by the Department of Driver Services (DDS) increased 5.5 times during the first 18 months. In 2022, there were almost 49,000 distracted driving convictions.
Drivers aged 15-to-24 years represented only 15% of all licensed drivers in the state 2022 but were involved in 26% of all distraction-related motor vehicle crashes and nearly one-third of all distracted driving crash citations in 2022 were issued to drivers in this age group.
Georgia’s Hands-free Law prohibits drivers from holding or supporting a wireless telecommunications device or standalone electronic device while operating a vehicle. This includes texting, emailing, browsing the internet, or using social media while driving.
The GTSF Distracted Driver 2022 fact sheet report contains information from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) crash data modified by Crash Outcomes Data Evaluation System (CODES) at the Department of Public Health (DPH), and Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS).
Visit www.gahighwaysafety.org to read the full report on the “GTSF Distracted Driving-2022” and other GTSF Fact Sheets.
