Distracted driving is clearly a major cause of car accidents in Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the United States. As communication technology evolves and becomes more convenient, the danger of distracted driving will likely only increase. While we all know it is not safe to use a cell phone while behind the wheel, the statistics on car accidents caused by distracted driving remain inaccurate across the country.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving is underreported and current statistics on distracted driving car accidents are probably only the tip of the iceberg. Though numbers on distracted driving crashes are inaccurate, available numbers show distracted driving is a growing accident cause even as the number of overall driving fatalities decreases in the United States.

Collection of car accident information starts with police reports. Information from police reports are forwarded to large federal databases where federal agencies, private analysts and university analysts use the information to identify trends and pose solutions. The investigation of an accident caused by distracted driving depends on how serious the accident was.

Drivers rarely admit that distraction was the cause of the accident and officers sometimes have to rely on witnesses to establish whether distraction was a cause. When distracted driving is determined to be a factor, some police departments do not record distracted driving as an accident cause. When police departments record distracted driving there can be a range of detail in the report. Some departments may record it in a narrative form that is hard to translate into standardized databases.

Safety officials are trying to standardize crash information around the country but until they do exact figures on distracted driving will not be available. In the mean time we remain aware of the dangers of distracted driving.

Source: Detroit Free Press, "Distracted driving numbers don't tell the whole story," July 31, 2011