Jacob Smith was 15 years old, fresh off addressing 8,000 of his peers about cherishing every moment, when a distracted driver hit his car head-on and left him with a traumatic brain injury that reshaped the course of his life.
“Less than 24 hours after that speech,” Smith said, “everything changed.”
His story is not an outlier. It is a daily reality on American roads.
More than 3,000 people were killed in distraction-affected crashes in 2024 alone — roughly nine deaths every single day — according to federal data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Safety experts warn that figure likely understates the true toll: no standardized reporting method exists to consistently identify driver distraction as a contributing factor, meaning thousands of additional deaths may go uncounted.
This April, the National Safety Council is marking Distracted Driving Awareness Month with a renewed call for drivers to break a habit that advocates say is as dangerous as it is preventable.
“No one should ever get hurt or lose their life because of a text or a phone call,” said Lorraine Martin, chief executive of the NSC. “By keeping our eyes on the road and our hands on the wheel, we all have the power and responsibility to make our roads safe for everyone.”
The distractions behind modern crashes are numerous and varied. They range from smartphones and infotainment touchscreens to in-car conversations and split-second lapses in attention. Safety researchers classify them in three broad categories: visual, which pull a driver’s gaze from the road; manual, which remove hands from the wheel; and cognitive, which divert mental focus away from the act of driving.
Any one of these, researchers say, can trigger what is known as inattentional blindness — a well-documented phenomenon in which the brain fails to register a visible hazard because its attention is directed elsewhere. Critically, NSC research shows that hands-free technology does not eliminate this risk. Talking through a car’s built-in system still imposes cognitive demands that can compromise reaction time and situational awareness.
Before starting the engine, the NSC recommends a set of straightforward precautions: program navigation before departure, enable “do not disturb” mode on your phone, adjust audio and climate controls while parked, and — if something demands attention mid-trip — pull over safely rather than attempt to manage it while moving.
The push is part of a broader national strategy. Through the Road to Zero Coalition, the NSC is partnering with the U.S. Department of Transportation and a network of road safety organizations to work toward eliminating all traffic fatalities by 2050. The initiative centers on what advocates call the Safe System Approach — a framework that treats road safety as an integrated whole, encompassing roadway design, vehicle engineering, speed management, driver behavior, and post-crash medical care, all structured to account for human error before it turns fatal.
Smith has become a voice within that effort, joining NSC advocates in calling for what he describes as an end to a generational burden. “We can prevent this,” he said.
Drivers who want to make a commitment can take the Just Drive pledge at nsc.org/justdrive.