April is Distracted Driving awareness month and dangerous and distracted driving continues to be an issue nationally, and in Tampa, in 2025.
There were an estimated 44,650 motor-vehicle deaths in the United States in 2024 with around 3,000 of these deaths occurring due to a distracted driver. According to the department for Florida Highway safety and motor vehicles 26,259 car crashes occurred in Hillsborough county alone last year in which 181 people lost their lives. The county averages 2,000 crashes a day. So far in 2025 44 people have needlessly lost their lives in Hillsborough County in crashes, with over 6,000 crashes reported. Of almost 3 and a half thousand crashes reported in Pinellas County in 2025, 23 people have died as a result.
Distracted driving is any driving where you take your hands off the wheel, eyes off the road or mind off driving:
| Types of Driver Distraction | |
| Visual | Taking your eyes off the road |
| Manual | Taking your hands off the wheel |
| Cognitive | Thinking about anything other than driving |
The Wireless Communications While Driving Law, section 316.305, Florida Statutes, took effect on July 1, 2019. This law prohibits drivers from using their phones whilst driving in order to fully concentrate on the road. However, seeing people texting whilst driving or whilst at stop lights is not unusual in Tampa, even if it is illegal. Even if your car is stationary, it is still being operated and still falls within the prohibition of the law. Not only does texting at a stop light delay traffic as drivers frequently miss the green light because they don’t notice it whilst their eyes are on their phone, but it puts other drivers, road users and pedestrians at real risk.
Both ‘simulation and instrumented vehicle studies have shown that drivers who are viewing information on or writing with cell phones have significantly increased risk of collision or near-collision events’, (Yannis et al., 2014, Owens et al., 2011, Caird et al., 2014) and yet in a 2016 survey, 60% of respondents reported to cell phone use whilst driving be it texting, emailing or viewing maps. In a 2011 study, it was found that text messaging is associated with the highest level of distraction potential, ten-digit dialing was the second most distracting task; radio tuning had the lowest level. Cars are increasingly being built with enormous tablet-like screens in them and even mouse-pad like dials. Time will tell if this modern functionality leads to an increase in crashes due to distracted driving as we lose more and more buttons to touch-screens.
Crashes are still more likely to occur with a younger driver according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA): with 25% of all distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes adults aged 25-34, but a 2014 study showed that older drivers are more adversely affected by texting while driving than younger drivers showing that drivers of all ages are impacted by distracted driving in its many forms.
So with awareness in mind, we should all take time this month to be proactive in stopping distracted driving in Tampa. Don’t pick up your phone when driving or at a stop light and use hands-free if required. Make sure your kids leave home knowing the risks of distracted driving, don’t reply to a text or email, or pick up a phone call or a facetime call from someone you know is driving, and help everyone to arrive alive.