AAA Mid-Atlantic and the Maryland Department of Transportation launched Distracted Driving Awareness Month campaigns April 6, 2026, in Baltimore, urging drivers across Maryland, including those in Calvert, St. Mary’s and Charles counties, to stay focused behind the wheel during April and year-round. The observance highlights that distracted driving causes thousands of preventable deaths and injuries nationwide each year.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data show 3,208 people died in distracted driving crashes in 2024, with nearly 315,167 others injured. That averages about nine deaths per day. Drivers ages 15 to 44 represent 55 percent of all drivers on the road but 60 percent of distracted drivers in fatal crashes.
Ragina Ali, public and government affairs manager for AAA in Maryland and Washington, D.C., emphasized the human cost. “Multi-tasking behind the wheel remains far too common, with many motorists downplaying the potential impacts,” she said. “Unfortunately, the reality is that distracted drivers recognize the dangers yet selfishly put themselves and others at risk.”
An AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety report found that most drivers view scrolling through social media (97 percent), texting or emailing (94 percent) and reading on a handheld phone (90 percent) as extremely or very dangerous. Yet in the prior 30 days, 28 percent reported texting while driving, 37 percent read messages and 36 percent talked on a handheld phone. Fifty-nine percent used hands-free technology, while only 11 percent scrolled social media.
Distracted driving remains underreported because law enforcement often cannot confirm it as the primary cause in every incident. AAA notes that even five seconds spent reading a text equals driving the length of a football field at 55 mph with eyes closed.
Maryland banned handheld cell phone use while driving in 2010 and texting while driving in 2009. According to the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration Highway Safety Office crash database, nearly 46 percent of crashes in 2023 — 50,303 total — involved a distracted driver. Those incidents resulted in 216 deaths and 20,951 injuries.
In Southern Maryland, distracted driving contributes significantly to local crashes. Calvert County data from 2021 showed distracted driving caused 37.5 percent of all fatalities and 42.1 percent of serious injuries. In St. Mary’s County that same year, it accounted for 20 percent of fatalities and 59.2 percent of serious injuries, with an annual average of about five distracted driving deaths.
Distractions fall into three categories: visual (eyes off the road), manual (hands off the wheel) and cognitive (mind off driving). Common examples beyond phones include eating, drinking, smoking, talking with passengers, adjusting vehicle controls, applying makeup or daydreaming.
AAA research with the University of Utah revealed a “hangover” effect from vehicle technology. Programming navigation can take 40 seconds at 25 mph, covering about four football fields. Even after stopping interaction, impairing effects can linger up to 27 seconds, creating inattentive blindness.
Ali pointed out the risk. “Even if drivers wait to interact with tech while parked or stopped at a red light, their mind is still not fully focused on their driving for nearly a half minute afterward. This hangover effect puts all road users at risk.”
AAA offers practical steps to reduce distractions:
- Put the phone away or use “Do Not Disturb” mode.
- Program navigation or routes before departing.
- Pull over safely to make calls or texts.
- Ask passengers for help with navigation or devices.
- Speak up as a passenger if the driver becomes distracted.
- Avoid distracting the driver as an occupant.
- Pedestrians and bicyclists should limit headphone use and phone activity near traffic.
Southern Maryland roads, including Routes 2, 4, 235 and 301, see heavy commuter and tourist traffic where distractions can quickly lead to rear-end collisions or run-off-road crashes near the Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River. Local law enforcement and Zero Deaths Maryland partners promote the “Be the Driver” campaign to encourage personal responsibility.
Officials remind residents that Maryland’s cell phone and texting laws carry fines and points. Enforcement increases during awareness months, but consistent safe habits matter most.
“Behind every statistic is a real person,” Ali said. “A few moments of inattentiveness can change lives forever.”
Distracted Driving Awareness Month serves as a statewide reminder that small choices, such as silencing phones before starting the engine, protect families and communities in Calvert, St. Mary’s, Charles and across Maryland.
