Newsletters
Risk Central
Digital EditionDistracted, Dangerous, and Deadly: Fixing America’s Driving Crisis
Peter L. Miller, CPCU, MS, MBA, is president and chief executive officer of The Institutes Risk & Insurance Knowledge Group and a member of its Senior Management Team.
The challenge of making American roads safer and prevent accidents and fatalities continues despite recent progress. New NHTSA data reveals traffic fatalities decreased to an estimated 39,345 in 2024, down 3.8% from 2023 and falling below 40,000 for the first time since 2020.
While this is welcome news, we know that more can be done. Creating truly safe roads requires a comprehensive approach that addresses vehicle technology, transportation policy, and the risky behaviors that contribute to these preventable tragedies.
Vehicle technology and design have made great strides in making transportation safer, from automatic emergency braking, blind spot monitoring and lane departure warnings to vehicle designs that can better protect occupants in a crash.
Transportation policy can also make a difference. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently unveiled an initiative called 30×30, which aims to reduce vehicle fatalities by 30% by the year 2030. This initiative advocates various actions to achieve that goal, including reducing maximum speed limits nationwide, adopting stricter seatbelt laws, among other transportation engineering initiatives.
Beyond safer vehicles and policy changes, we also need drivers to adopt less risky driving habits and behaviors. One of the biggest causes of accidents is distracted driving, particularly due in part to using phones while driving.
Commercial drivers represent a significant segment of road users whose experiences highlight broader driving safety concerns.
A recent survey of commercial drivers by Nationwide found that most company drivers routinely encounter distracted motorists on their routes, but many also confess to being distracted behind the wheel. And these drivers are worried about the consequences — 70% said they worry about being killed or hurt in an accident or being held liable for damages.
When asked about their perception of other drivers on the road, commercial drivers agreed that other drivers are looking at their phones more often (69%) and driving more aggressively (70%).
Asked to identify the dangerous driving behaviors they witness the most, distracted driving was the top response, at 52%, followed by speeding, at 45%.
Beyond their view of other drivers, 21% of commercial drivers admit to feeling distracted while driving for work. Among those, the primary reasons for feeling distracted were: using GPS/navigation systems (55%); responding to work-related text messages (52%); and talking or texting on a mobile phone (47%).
Nationwide’s survey also found that more employers are taking steps to mitigate distracted driving. For example, 44% of drivers reported their company enforces a hands-free driving policy, up from 34% in 2023.
In addition, 84% of company drivers report having dashcams installed in their company vehicles, up sharply from 55% the previous year. Two-thirds of employers require use of dashcams, up from 38% the year before, and 25% encourage but do not require their use.
Dashcams can record driver behavior, potentially deterring risky actions, and more advanced systems not only can detect distracted drivers but also keep an eye out for potential hazards they miss.
We applaud increased adoption of technology and policies by employers to minimize dangerous driving behaviors and phone distractions.
Reducing traffic fatalities will require continued advances in all three areas: safer vehicle technology, improved transportation policies, and a broad commitment to more responsible driving habits. &
