Distracted Driving Report – The States With the Least and Most Distracted Driving

In April 2025, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released data for 2023 that illustrated traffic deaths due to distracted driving decreased by 1% compared to 2022, but still remains a significant problem on American roads.

Every year, thousands of drivers and passengers are fatally injured as a result of distracted driving. In 2023, roughly 3,275 people were killed in car crashes involving a distracted driver, marking a slight decrease from the 3,308 drivers who were fatally injured in the preceding year.

In this report, we’ve pulled together the latest numbers to identify the major causes of distracted driving, what the trends look like through recent years, and which states have the greatest distracted driving issues and the highest number of fatal road accidents. We’ve then ranked each state from best to worst.

What is distracted driving?

Distracted driving occurs when the operator of the vehicle is trying to do something else besides drive. Since the driver’s attention is divided, distracted driving will drastically boost the chance of a car accident or fatal crash.

The most common driver distractions include other passengers in the vehicle, using a cell phone, adjusting audio or climate controls, eating or drinking, smoking, and daydreaming.

Texting is the most alarming distraction. Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds. At 55 mph, that’s like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed.

Recent surveys have identified the most common distracted driving behaviors:

How has distracted driving changed through the years?

Distracted driving continues to be a significant reason for traffic accidents in the United States, making up 8 percent of total fatal crashes in 2023. During 2023, 3,275 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, which represented a slight decrease from 3,308 deaths in 2022. During the last five years, roughly 16,630 people have been killed as a result of distracted driving.

Is there any difference between gender and age?

Men are nearly three times as likely to be involved in a fatal distracted driving accident compared to women. Male drivers were distracted in 2,228 fatal crashes in 2023, whereas women drivers were only distracted in 849 fatal crashes during the same period. Overall, male drivers account for 72.41% of all fatal distracted driving crashes.

Age Group Differences

Age plays a significant role in distracted driving behavior. According to the latest data, younger drivers are more likely to be involved in distracted driving incidents:

Teenage drivers (15-20) have the highest percentage of distracted drivers at 7%, with young adults (21-44) following closely at 6%. This likely reflects inexperience combined with higher smartphone usage among these age groups.

States with the most distracted driving 

For the fourth year in a row, New Mexico has the most distracted driving in the country. According to statistics by NHTSA, New Mexico reported 163 distracted driving deaths in 2023. The state reported 10.58 distracted driving deaths for every 100,000 drivers, and 37.06 percent of all fatal crashes in the state were due to distracted driving.

The second worst state is Louisiana, followed by Kansas, Hawaii, New Jersey, Kentucky, Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, and Texas.

States with the least distracted driving

The District of Columbia had zero deaths in fatal crashes due to distracted driving. This perfect performer was followed by Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Mississippi, West Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas, and Delaware.

The large difference in distracted driving crashes could, in part, be attributed to different state guidelines on reporting distracted driving accidents. It can also be a result of extensive work by local governments on tackling distracted driving through anti-texting laws, awareness campaigns, and more.

The complete list of distracted driving statistics for each state

2023 Distracted Driving Report

2024 Distracted Driving Report

Methodology

The data in this report has beenarious gathered from various governmental websites, including the Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST) developed by NHTSA.