In 2008, nearly 6,000 people were killed and more than 500,000 injured in traffic accidents related to distracted driving. The U.S. Department of Transportation defines “distracted driving” as “any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing.” Most notably those activities include texting and using a cell phone while driving.

It's a fact: driving while distracted substantially increases the likelihood of a serious accident. Check these statistics from the USDOT's Distraction.gov website: 

• Using a cell phone while driving, whether it's hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08%. (Source: University of Utah)
• Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%. (Source: Carnegie Mellon)
• 80% of all crashes and 65% of near crashes involve some type of distraction. (Source: Virginia Tech 100-car study for NHTSA)

• The worst offenders are the youngest and least-experienced drivers: men and women under 20 years of age. (Source: NHTSA)
• Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
• The state of California has banned texting and using other hand-held devices while driving. Click here for an overview of all the key highway safety laws in California.