Texas drivers among most distracted in U.S., survey says

Texas has some of the most distracted drivers in the nation, according to data compiled by San Antonio-based insurance and financial services company USAA.

Texas ranked No. 8 among states and the District of Columbia, with a 14% rate of distracted-driving incidents in the first six months of 2023, according to the USAA report. That means Texans were distracted by their phones for an average of 14% of their drives.

The national average is 12.1%, according to the report.

Distracted driving incidents were those involving “texting, phone calls and other smartphone distractions that divert drivers’ attention from the road,” according to USAA.

USAA cited figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that found distracted driving contributed to 3,522 U.S. deaths in 2021.

The states with the highest percentage of distracted drivers were mostly in the southern United States. Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama and North Carolina were the states with the highest percentage of distracted-driving incidents, according to the USAA data.

Vermont, Oregon, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Maine had the lowest percentage of distracted-driving incidents, according to USAA’s data.

The report was done using data compiled by USAA’s SafePilot app. The smartphone app offers USAA customers discounts by allowing the app to track their driving patterns. The program is offered in 47 states and Washington, D.C. It is not available in California, Delaware and New Jersey.

The data presented is from the first six months of 2023, according to USAA. The company did not provide a margin of error for the study.

The number of drivers tracked by the USAA app is only a tiny portion of all drivers. More than 800,000 of the 13 million USAA members use the SafePilot app, which tracks the figures, according to the company. There are more than 230 million licensed drivers in the United States, according to federal data.

“The app uses GPS and other sensors to capture data about their driving habits,” USAA said in a written statement. “It’ll show the user how well they’re driving — and how they can improve, with the ultimate goal of helping to make roads safer.”

The app monitors distractions like texting, phone calls and using an internet browser. GPS apps and music apps do not count toward the distraction rate, according to USAA, but “significant phone movement” when using those apps can register as a distraction.

Distractions that don’t involve phones, such as conversations and other individuals in the car, cannot be tracked, according to USAA.