Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Distracted Driving

CDC: Americans Drive Distracted Waaaay More Than Europeans

Adults aged 18–64 who said they had talked on their cell phone while driving in the past 30 days, by country. Image: CDC

If you've been on a U.S. street anytime in the past few years, it comes as no surprise to hear that way too many Americans are yammering away on their cell phones -- or worse, OMG'ing and LOL'ing with their friends on text and email -- while driving. A new report from the CDC -- from their "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" -- shows just how bad the American habit is.

Nine-year-old Erica Forney was hit by a distracted driving while riding her bike three years ago. She died Thanksgiving Day, 2008. Photo: ##http://www.distraction.gov/content/faces/###Distraction.gov##

The CDC looked at 2011 data on distracted driving rates in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States and found that people in the U.S. are by far the worst offenders. Of all the Europeans surveyed, the Portuguese most closely mirrored our dangerous ways.

More than two-thirds (68.7 percent) of U.S. adult drivers (aged 18–64) admitted in surveys to talking on their cell phones while driving at least once in the past 30 days. Almost a third (31.2 percent) admitted to reading or sending texts or e-mails while driving at least once during that time.

Our Portuguese counterparts had the highest rates in Europe for both of these behaviors -- 59.4 percent said they'd talked on the phone and 31.3 percent had texted or emailed while driving in the past 30 days. But from there, the rates in Europe plummet. In the UK, just 20.5 percent admitted to talking while driving, and only 15.1 percent of Spaniards say they text and drive.

Adults aged 18–64 who said they had texted or emailed while driving in the past 30 days, by country. Image: CDC

Cell phone ownership rates don't seem to be a factor in the statistics: The CDC reports that "mobile markets in developed countries are similarly saturated." However, automobile use does differ: While there were 797 vehicles per 1,000 people in the United States in 2010, there were only 519 in the UK. Meanwhile, the cell-phone-happy Portuguese had 537 cars per 1,000 people.

Cell phone use while driving is an enormous safety problem in this country. NHTSA reports that distraction-related crashes kill more than nine people and injure more than 1,060 every day in the U.S. The effects of distraction are severe: According to U.S. DOT's website on the issue, Distraction.gov, "Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds. At 55 mph, that's like driving the length of an entire football field, blindfolded."

Thirty-three U.S. states and the District of Columbia have laws restricting cell phone use while driving, at least for teens, but these laws haven't yet proven effective at getting people to change their behavior.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Wednesday’s Headlines Got the Worried Blues

Transit agencies listen to that whistle blow. They're going where they never gone before.

July 17, 2024

Study: More Evidence That Safer Streets Help Loca Business

...and more insight into why that belief is so hard to quash.

July 17, 2024

Tuesday’s Headlines Turn Up the Heat

Triple-digit heat, fueled by climate change, is warping rail lines, interrupting construction work on transit lines and causing burns on sidewalks.

July 16, 2024

These Are the Most Dangerous Congressional Districts for Pedestrians

The deadliest congressional districts in America are dominated by BIPOC communities — and federal officials need to step up to save the most vulnerable road users.

July 16, 2024

Delivery Worker Minimum Wage Shows Promise … For Some, Data Shows

New data from New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection shows minimum wage is bringing order to a previously wild industry.

July 15, 2024
See all posts