Nevada sees drop in distracted driving deaths, but advocates say numbers still too high

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(Noell Evans) – Drivers across Nevada can continue their commute with a little less stress these days. That’s because roadways across the state are freer from distracted drivers, according to a new Quotewizard study.

The study placed Nevada drivers as being less distracted than the drivers of other states.

Nationwide, according to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “Each day in the United States, approximately 9 people are killed and more than 1,000 injured in crashes that are reported to involve distracted drivers.”

“Nevada (had) only 44 distracted road fatalities from 2013 to 2017, which was 2.03 percent of overall road fatalities,” Adam Johnston, a research analyst with Quotewizard, told KSNV. “Nevada scored the third-best in that category.”

Sergio Avila at AAA Nevada told KSNV that while it’s promising that distracted driving deaths are down, they’re still too high.

“It’s great that we see a study that shows the number of distracted driving deaths in Nevada is lower than in most other states, but I mean 44 deaths in that time span is still a lot for something that is completely avoidable,” Avila said.

Johnston cited advances in technology, specifically hands-free devices and Do Not Disturb settings, as part of the reason for the declining number of distracted drivers. He also credited some of the drop to drivers, who may be more aware of the dangers of driving distracted.

Quotewizard used data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for their findings. One of their findings showed no great disparity in the number of distracted driving deaths between states that do, and do not, have laws on the books regarding texting and driving.

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Noell Evans | The Center Square