Distracted Driving Linked to 1 in 3 Crashes in New Study, and Car Touchscreens Are Part of It
Distracted driving is a factor in about one in three road crashes, according to a large new research program from insurer Allianz, and the screens built into today’s cars are part of the problem, not just the phone in your pocket. The report, released October 21, adds to U.S. research showing that distraction is badly undercounted in crash records. Here is what the new findings say, what Illinois law does and does not cover, and a few simple habits for DuPage County drivers.
What the new study found
The Allianz Center for Technology presented the report, “SWIPE. TAP. CRASH. Driver distraction in the digital car,” at the 14th Allianz Motor Day. The team analyzed more than 34,000 crash cases, ran eye-tracking studies in real vehicles, carried out a driving simulator study with the Technical University of Munich, built computer models of driver behavior, surveyed drivers in nine countries and reviewed more than 80 published studies. The key findings:
- One in three crashes. Distraction was either the immediate trigger or a contributing cause in about one in three road crashes, far more than accident statistics usually show.
- Cockpit design matters. In real-world driving tests, the same everyday task, such as adjusting the air conditioning or the radio, kept drivers’ eyes off the road up to 25% longer in one vehicle than another, a difference of around three seconds.
- Long glances are the danger. In the studies Allianz reviewed, glances away from the road of more than two seconds were linked to a substantially higher crash risk.
- Collisions nearly tripled in a sudden-braking test. In a simulated highway emergency-braking scenario, the share of runs ending in a collision rose from 18.2% for attentive drivers to 54.3% for distracted ones.
- Worse than a legal-limit drinker. In all four simulated scenarios, distracted drivers performed worse than drivers simulated with a blood alcohol level of 0.8 per mille, which is the same as 0.08% BAC, the legal limit in Illinois.
Drivers seem to know it. In the survey, which covered Australia, Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, 79% said in-car technology has made distraction worse in recent years, and 65% said they prefer physical buttons over touchscreen menus for safety-critical functions. Dr. Klaus-Peter Röhler, a member of the Allianz SE board of management, put it simply: “A car is not a smartphone. When safety is at stake, function must come before design.”
U.S. data points the same way
The Allianz research is international, but U.S. numbers tell a similar story. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 3,208 people were killed and 315,167 were injured in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2024. NHTSA notes that sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for about five seconds; at 55 mph, that is like driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed.
Those official counts are likely low. In an August study, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) matched telematics data from safe-driving phone apps with nearly 17,000 police-reported crashes in four states. Drivers were using their phones in the 30 seconds before impact in 7% of single-vehicle crashes and 8% of two-vehicle crashes, while police reports recorded phone use in less than 1%. IIHS says police reports undercount phone use before crashes by a factor of at least seven, and that looking away from the road for just two seconds doubles the risk of a crash or near-crash.
What Illinois law covers, and what it does not
Illinois bans hand-held phone use behind the wheel. Under the Illinois Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/12-610.2):
- No hand-held devices while driving. Drivers may not use a phone, tablet or similar device while driving on a roadway, unless it is in hands-free or voice-operated mode. Using a single button to start or end a call is also allowed.
- No video, video calls or social media, even hands-free.
- Smart glasses are now included. Since July 31, 2026, the law’s definition of an electronic communication device also covers artificial intelligence smart glasses, and the hands-free exception does not apply to them.
- Limited exceptions, such as reporting an emergency, being parked on the shoulder, or being stopped because traffic is blocked with the vehicle in neutral or park.
A separate section (625 ILCS 5/12-610.1) adds that drivers under 19 with an instruction permit or graduated license may not use a phone at all while driving, except in an emergency, and that all drivers face tighter limits in school speed zones and highway construction or maintenance zones. We covered teen rules in our Teen Driver Safety Week article and current work zones in our tollway construction update.
Here is the gap the new study highlights: the Illinois definition does not include a GPS or navigation system, or a device that is built into the vehicle. In other words, the touchscreen in your dashboard is legal to use while driving, but the research shows it can still pull your eyes off the road for seconds at a time.
What this means for you
Here’s our take: plenty of everyday dents and scrapes start with a short look away. A rear bumper tapped in stop-and-go traffic on Route 59 or Roosevelt Road, a door clipped while backing out of a parking space, a mirror brushed in a tight lane shift. Distraction does not have to cause a serious crash to cause damage. A few habits help:
- Set it before you go. Enter your destination, pick your music or podcast and set the climate controls while you are still parked.
- Learn your car’s controls. Find out which functions have physical buttons, steering-wheel controls or voice commands, and use those instead of digging through touchscreen menus.
- Keep glances short. If a task takes more than a quick glance, wait for a safe stop, or let a passenger handle it.
- Put the phone away. Use do-not-disturb or driving mode, and keep the phone out of reach so you are not tempted to pick it up.
- Leave extra room behind the car ahead, especially in heavy traffic and work zones, so a moment of distraction does not turn into a rear-end bump.
- After a minor bump, photograph the damage once you are safely parked. If the paint is not cracked, a dent may be a fit for paintless dent repair; cracked paint or a damaged bumper cover usually calls for collision repair.
Our team at EZ Tech Paintless Dent Removal & Collision is happy to take a look at any damage and walk you through your options. This article is general information, not legal or insurance advice.
Sources: Allianz SE, “Allianz research links distraction to one in three road accidents” (October 21, 2026); Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “Study shows police reports undercount cellphone use before crashes” (August 27, 2026); National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Distracted Driving”; Illinois General Assembly, 625 ILCS 5/12-610.2 and 625 ILCS 5/12-610.1. Accessed November 2, 2026.
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