More than a third of U.S. drivers were distracted by their cellphones in the 60 seconds before they crashed, according to a 2024 report from Cambridge Mobile Telematics. But smartphones can also help states and cities prevent collisions by identifying the locations where distracted driving leads to more accidents, said Gary Hallgren, president and CEO of Arity, an Allstate company that collects and analyzes transportation data.
“Over a long period of time, you can see clusters of accidents,” Hallgren said. Areas where there is more distracted driving, hard braking and speeding “are going to lead to hotspot areas” — even if they aren’t now, he said.
Arity collects data from smartphone sensors, mobile apps and connected vehicles regarding risky driving behaviors such as speeding, hard braking and mobile phone use as well as crash data, Hallgren explained. “There's a very strong correlation between mucking around with your phone and hard-braking events,” he said.
“When you get down into the details, you can actually start making good sense out of it,” Hallgren said. “That's really important for cities, counties, metropolitan planning organizations, that they can see how things are really affecting them and their communities and how things are changing.” Along with government agencies, the large engineering firms that design and build roads need this data, he said.
In an April 1 blog post, Arity said that distracted driving increased 30% from 2019 to 2024, with 3,522 fatalities and more than 363,000 injuries in 2021 alone. Distracted driving means more than just talking and texting: The CMT report lists at least 100 mobile apps drivers used while at the wheel. The top 10 apps included social media and messaging platforms Instagram, WhatsApp Messenger, Facebook, YouTube, Gmail and Facebook Messenger along with Google Chrome, financial app Afterpay and the phone’s camera and voice-call apps.
A 2023 Arity white paper found large disparities in distracted driving among states. Those with the most distracted driving are Hawai’i, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York. Drivers are least distracted in Wyoming, New Mexico, Montana and Missouri. Among cities, New York City metro area drivers are the most distracted in the nation. Miami-Dade County in Florida and Cook County in Illinois, which includes Chicago, also rank high for distracted driving.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched a campaign in April to remind drivers of the dangers and legal consequences of driving while distracted. It will be supported by increased law enforcement.
Arity’s goal is to help transportation authorities understand “where things are going to happen, as opposed to where they have happened,” said Hallgren. Often, “they're looking in arrears” by looking at where accidents have occurred, he explained. But accidents are infrequent, he said, and the data Arity provides can help authorities “move faster [and] see what's working and not working.” Doing so would allow planners to better prioritize their resources, he said.
“It's a way to speed up the cycle of helping these agencies and organizations better understand what is happening more in real time,” said Hallgren. “Maybe there's some proactive things they could do to get in front of it.”
