Cell phone use is a significant factor in many car accidents, and statistics show that it's a major contributor to distracted driving: Reaction time Texting while driving can have the same effect on reaction time as drinking four beers before driving. Number of accidents The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that cell phone use causes 1.1–1.6 million crashes each year. Fatalities In 2022, 368 fatal crashes were attributed to cell phone use, which is 12.1% of all fatal distraction-affected