PH-PAM-51 8/2017

Crashes, injuries, and fatalities due to distracted driving in

Nebraska, 2010 - 2014

D istracted driving, no matter the source of distraction, causes crashes, injuries, and deaths every day in the United States. In Nebraska from 2010-2014, 18,189 crashes were caused by distracted driving behaviors*, leading to 2,661 injuries and 35

fatalities. On average, seven people were killed and 532 injured in 3,638 crashes each year due to distracted driving (Figure 1).

*Distraction is defined as ‘inattention’, ‘mobile phone distraction’, and ‘distracted-other’ as reported in crash investigations

Figure 1: Distracted crashes, injuries, andfatalities, 2010 - 2014

NU

MB

ER

OF

NE

BR

AS

KA

NS 5000

45004000350030002500200015001000

5000

8

498 509 563 514577

532

363841013598354334383509

Average20142013201220112010

6 13 35

7

Distracted Crashes Distracted Injuries Distracted Fatalities

The percentage of distracted crashes increased for all age groups during this five year period, with young drivers experiencing the sharpest increase (Figure 2). Overall, the average of Nebraska crashes related to distracted driving is 7.30%. However, crashes due to distracted driving among drivers ages 14-19 averaged 10.4% over the same timeframe.

Source: NE CODES

12%

11%

10%

9%

8%

7%

6%

5%

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

14-19 20-29 30-39 40-59 60+

Figure 2: Distracted crashes as a percent oftotal crashes by age group, 2010 - 2014

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CEN

T O

F CR

ASH

ES

CODES website: http://dhhs.ne.gov/publichealth/Pages/codes_index.aspx