Federal statistics include a code for factors involved in fatal crashes and they point to a big increase in inattentive driving. "U.S. data combine talking, eating and using cell phones in the same group. We have seen an increase of 42 percent in fatal crashes in which the coder labeled inattention as a factor," Sivak said.
In October researchers at the University of North Texas Health Science Center calculated that drivers using cell phones killed 16,000 people from 2001 to 2007. In 2009 the U.S. government blamed distracted driving for 16 percent of road deaths, or 5,800 deaths.
Sivak said it was difficult to say how much any one factor contributed to overall deaths, but there are clues pointing to the decline in fatalities. "We have found there has been an increase in the deployment of air bags during crashes, especially side air bags," he said. "We have been driving less and we are driving differently."
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