Virginia had 601 distracted driving fatalities, which was 11.63% of total vehicle fatalities, over a 5-year span. That was the 8th-highest rate in the nation.
QuoteWizard analyzed NHTSA fatality data to find which states had the highest rate of distracted driving fatalities. They took a total number of distracted driving fatalities in each state over the period of 2013 to 2017 and ranked states on the number of distracted driving car crashes as a percentage of total fatal car crashes.
Key findings, according to the study:
- In Virginia, there has been an average of 120.2 distracted driving fatalities per year from 2013 to 2017. Compare that to West Virginia’s 12.8 per year.
- In QuoteWizard’s 2018 annual report, Virginia ranked 14th-worst drivers (distracted driving numbers were a variable in the rankings).
- Neighbors West Virginia had 64 distracted driving fatalities (3.39% of total vehicle fatalities) over a 5-year-span, which was the 10th-lowest rate in the nation.
- Nationwide, in 2013, distracted driving fatalities accounted for 6.22% of all driving fatalities, and in 2017 that number was down to 5.3%.
- Nationwide there were 15,546 fatal distracted driving fatalities from 2013 to 2017.
Here are the most distracted driving states, according to the study:
| Rank | State | Distracted fatalities | Total fatalities | % Distracted fatality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | 604 | 2287 | 26.41 |
| 2 | New Jersey | 750 | 3973 | 18.87 |
| 3 | Washington | 626 | 3566 | 17.55 |
| 4 | Kentucky | 842 | 5088 | 16.54 |
| 5 | Hawaii | 105 | 672 | 15.62 |
| 6 | Kansas | 408 | 2627 | 15.53 |
| 7 | Louisiana | 664 | 5037 | 13.18 |
| 8 | Virginia | 601 | 5166 | 11.63 |
| 9 | Maryland | 403 | 3554 | 11.33 |
| 10 | Idaho | 147 | 1431 | 10.27 |
You can find the full report and list of state rankings at this link.
