Study: Distracted drivers cause more than half of all car crashes

While a lot of media attention has been focused recently on Uber's experiment with self-driving cars here in Tempe, there has been significantly less scrutiny lately of cars piloted by people. A new study indicates far too many drivers are not paying attention when behind the wheel.

Slightly more than half of all car accidents are now caused by distracted drivers, the study says. The research is based on hundreds of thousands of motor vehicle crashes.

The study is from Cambridge Mobile Telematics. The company says that according to its analysis of crash data, 52 percent of all motor vehicle crashes involve distracted driving.

The researchers also found that on drives that ended in a crash, the average distraction duration was 135 seconds (2 minutes and 15 seconds).

Other findings include the following:

• On drives with distractions, phone distractions last 2 minutes or more on 20 percent of the drives
• 29 percent of phone distractions are at speeds above 56 mph
• The worst 10 percent of distracted drivers are more than twice as likely to be in a motor vehicle accident than an average driver

The research also breaks down states into three categories, including the average of phone distraction duration in those states:

• In states that ban handheld device use while driving, phone distractions last an average of 3.17 minutes
• In those states that ban handheld device use by drivers under 18, phone distractions average 3.25 minutes
• In those states, including Arizona, that do not ban handheld use, phone distractions are worst, averaging 3.82 minutes

Those who are injured in car crashes caused by distracted drivers are less interested in studies and statistics than they are in getting justice and compensation for their medical bills, lost wages and more.

You can speak with a personal injury attorney at the Accident Law Group about your case.