The Deadly Consequences of Distracted Driving

By Tyler Doupe'

A text message comes through while you’re on the road and you avert your eyes for a split second to read the notification. Perhaps you’ve done so previously without consequence, but this time it’s different. In the brief moment that you look away, a car pulls in front of you and immediately slams on their brakes. Your reaction time is delayed, and you careen into the vehicle in front of you, causing a ghastly accident that inflicts bodily harm on you and the occupants of the automobile you suddenly smashed into.

According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report, 3,208 people were killed and 315,167 sustained injuries from distracted driving-related automobile accidents in 2024. Those statistics reinforce just how important it is to stay focused while behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

Although mobile phones and infotainment systems have the potential to help keep us safe, informed, and connected, they are very much a double-edged sword. The very devices that allow us to call for help in the event of an accident or notify us of road hazards can easily divide our attention, sometimes leading to fatal consequences.

So, what exactly constitutes distracted driving? The NHTSA defines distracted driving as “… any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system — anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving.”

As the NHTSA also astutely points out, taking your focus off the road for five seconds to read a text message at 55 mph is tantamount to closing your eyes for the length of a football field.

Texting while driving is perilous in no small part because it involves all three forms of distracted driving: visual (taking your eyes off the road), manual (taking one or both hands off the wheel), and cognitive (letting your mind drift). Any one of those three is dangerous on its own, but texting behind the wheel combines all three hazards, making it an especially perilous trifecta. 

Distracted driving becomes an even bigger problem when it occurs during the course of an employee’s workday. There are a few clear reasons for that. First and foremost, employees who drive as a function of their employment generally spend more time on the road. Driving while distracted on your way to and from work is risky, ill advised, and can lead to dire consequences. But when you spend a large portion of your day behind the wheel, the probability of unforeseen tragedy is even greater.

That’s in no small part because employees who drive as part of their job often pilot larger vehicles. A compact car can easily become deadly under the right circumstances, but a cargo van or truck can be a weapon of mass destruction when used irresponsibly. 

There’s also the matter of liability. When an individual is unsafe in their personal vehicle, they put themselves and those around them at risk, but when someone drives distracted while on official business, they additionally put their entire organization in jeopardy. 

On the whole, staying alert and minimizing distractions on the road is profoundly important for anyone who gets behind the wheel. That goes double for those who operate a motor vehicle during the course of their regular workday.

If you’d like to learn more about staying safe on the road and defensive driving best practices, be sure to look into OSHAcademy Course 119: Driver Safety.