Five-Year Trend: Rising Smartphone Distraction Crashes
Is the problem getting worse? Data from the past five years indicate that distraction-related crashes – especially those involving mobile phone use – remain a significant threat.
In Europe, driver distraction is estimated to play a role in 5–25% of all crashes, with over 3,000 fatalities in 2019 alone attributed to distracted driving. The United States has seen distracted driving account for roughly 8–10% of all traffic deaths annually in recent years.
Crucially, a large share of this distraction involves smartphones – from texting and calling to navigation and even social media use. Below is a summary of U.S. distracted driving fatality totals over the last five years:
| Year | U.S. Fatalities in Crashes Involving a Distracted Driver | Yearly Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2,841 | – (baseline) |
| 2019 | ~3,142 | +11% (approx.) |
| 2020 | ~3,154 | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 3,522 | +12% (surge) |
| 2022 | 3,308 | –6% |
| 2023 | 3,275 | –1% |
As shown above, the United States experienced an uptick in distraction-related deaths through 2020 and a sharp jump in 2021, when over 3,500 people died in crashes involving distracted drivers. This 2021 spike – a 12% increase over 2020 – coincided with a general rise in traffic fatalities as pandemic travel patterns shifted.
Since then, distraction-related deaths have eased slightly (down ~6% in 2022 and essentially flat into 2023). However, the annual toll remains higher than in 2018, indicating no definitive reversal of the problem.
In total, over 16,600 people in the U.S. were killed in the past five years due to distracted driving, a substantial portion of which involved smartphone use.
Underreported Problem
It's important to note that these figures likely undercount the true extent of phone distraction in crashes. Police reports often rely on driver admission or visible evidence to identify cellphone use, which means many cases can go unreported.
For example, in 2022 U.S. data, official reports logged 402 fatalities specifically involving cellphone use (roughly 1% of all road deaths). Safety experts assert the real number is higher, given how difficult it is to prove phone involvement after a crash.
Bottom line: Across developed nations, smartphone distraction remains a persistent or growing contributor to crashes. In the United States, the past five years show a net increase in distraction-related fatalities (comparing 2018 to 2023) even after a post-2021 plateau. Other wealthy countries likewise report that phone-in-hand driving continues to cause intolerable loss of life.