The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a fact sheet that shows drivers’ use of text-messaging or visibly manipulating hand-held devices increased slightly from 2012 to 2013, from 1.5 percent to 1.7 percent. However, driver hand-held cell phone use decreased from 5.2 percent to 4.6 percent. (Slide 1)
The National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS) also found that hand-held cell phone use continued to be higher among female drivers than male drivers (Slide 2). And the observations found that hand-held cell phone use continued to be highest among 16- to 24-year-old drivers and lowest among drivers 70 and older (Slide 3).
Similarly, Slide 4 shows that since 2007 the percentages of drivers visibly manipulating hand-held devices while driving have been significantly higher among drivers age 16 to 24 than those of other age groups.
The full report is available here.
