Distracted driving, appendix, 2019

Appendix
Distracted Drivers Georgia Traffic Safety Facts (2019)
This document is the appendix for the 2019 Distracted Drivers Georgia Traffic Safety Facts. Visit https://www.gahighwaysafety.org/highway-safety/shsp/ to access the full report.

Distracted Driver convictions are convictions processed at the Georgia Department of Driver Services. The total convictions include the following codes based on the county where the violation occurred.

O.C.G.A. 40-6-241 O.C.G.A. 40-6-241(b) O.C.G.A. 40-6-241(c) O.C.G.A. 40-6-241(d) O.C.G.A. 40-6-241.1 O.C.G.A. 40-6-241.2 O.C.G.A. 40-6-241.2(b)(1) O.C.G.A. 40-6-241.2(b)(2)(A) O.C.G.A. 40-6-241.2(b)(2)(B) O.C.G.A. 40-6-241.2(b)(2)(C)

Failure to exercise due care/careless driving Failure to exercise due care Unlawful use of wireless device Unlawful use of wireless device in cmv Unlawful use of wireless device <18/using hand-held phone, driving Operating a vehicle while text messaging/texting while driving Operating a vehicle while text messaging/texting while driving Holding wireless device for voice communication/using hand-held phone, driving Using >1 button on wireless device for voice comm./using hand-held phone, driving Reaching for wireless device/using hand-held phone, driving

Data Considerations:
On July 1, 2018, Georgia's Hands-Free Law furthered the "no texting while driving" law and made it illegal for drivers
(including young drivers) to physically hold or support a wireless communications device while driving. Under Georgia's Hands-Free Law, drivers can be cited and convicted for distracted driving that may or may not have resulted in a motor vehicle traffic crash. While first time offenders of Georgia's Hands-Free Law can be excused if they provide evidence that they have obtained a device that allows them to use hands-free communication technology, the increase in enforcement and convictions for distracted driving is indicative of a growing traffic safety concern.
Gwinnett County has consistently had the highest number of distracted driving convictions compared to any other county.
From 2011-2017 (prior to the Hands-Free Law), Gwinnett represented 26 percent of all distracted driving convictions across the state. The number of distracted driving convictions in Gwinnett increased nearly sixfold (5.9 times) from 2,013 in 2015 to 11,869 in 2019 indicative of consistent enforcement of distracted driving laws.
Some Georgia counties may not have reported all or any distracted driver convictions in 2019. There were seven (7)
distracted driving convictions in 2019 where the county of violation was not known.

Licensed Drivers, Citations Issued after Motor Vehicle Crash, Distracted Driving Convictions, and Percent Confirmed or Suspected Distracted Drivers (Distraction-Related) Involved in Motor Vehicle Crashes by County, 2019

County Name
APPLING ATKINSON BACON BAKER BALDWIN BANKS BARROW BARTOW BEN HILL BERRIEN BIBB BLECKLEY

Licensed Drivers
13,520 5,459 7,815 2,289 29,177 15,387 64,875 86,811 11,840 13,609 105,684 8,975

Distracted Driving Citations Issued
After a Crash 3 3 2 1 3 8 13 34 1 7 7 2

Distracted Driving Convictions
21 1 2 37 269 473 238 433 82 184 309 91

Percent Distraction-Related MV Traffic Crashes
65% 48% 51% 72% 60% 58% 59% 61% 39% 56% 54% 49%

Licensed Drivers, Citations Issued after Motor Vehicle Crash, Distracted Driving Convictions, and Percent Confirmed or Suspected Distracted Drivers (Distraction-Related) Involved in Motor Vehicle Crashes by County, 2019 (con't)

County Name
BRANTLEY BROOKS BRYAN BULLOCH BURKE BUTTS CALHOUN CAMDEN CANDLER CARROLL CATOOSA CHARLTON CHATHAM CHATTAHOOCHEE CHATTOOGA CHEROKEE CLARKE CLAY CLAYTON CLINCH COBB COFFEE COLQUITT COLUMBIA COOK COWETA CRAWFORD CRISP DADE DAWSON DECATUR DEKALB DODGE DOOLY DOUGHERTY DOUGLAS EARLY ECHOLS EFFINGHAM ELBERT EMANUEL EVANS

Licensed Drivers
13,369 11,023 33,574 50,446 17,851 19,157 3,521 40,701 7,786 91,947 52,990 7,207 208,895 4,616 18,383 205,880 78,589 2,166 199,564 4,689 580,629 28,061 31,604 118,545 12,804 115,002 9,826 14,614 12,936 23,129 20,479 534,974 13,410 6,973 60,085 108,055 7,898 2,430 51,098 15,433 16,295 7,459

Distracted Driving Citations Issued After
a Crash 3 6 9 51 5 2 0 4 1 26 59 2
151 0 1 54 42 1 70 2
220 16 11 43 9 24 0 8 5 12 4 89 4 3 30 40 0 2 16 3 3 3

Distracted Driving Convictions
8 69 129 649
64 93 13 166 40 1,061 641 4 1,763 -3 1,492 847 20 1,024 8 1,495 825 496 601 232 1,302 5 72 20 373 156 1,604 10 56 796 442 7 3 307 149 115 16

Percent DistractionRelated MV Traffic
Crashes 61% 53% 60% 60% 66% 58% 37% 53% 52% 58% 59% 67% 49% 48% 54% 63% 55% 34% 54% 54% 58% 48% 55% 64% 55% 58% 78% 60% 63% 66% 48% 53% 54% 40% 51% 57% 71% 54% 60% 55% 49% 49%

Licensed Drivers, Citations Issued after Motor Vehicle Crash, Distracted Driving Convictions, and Percent Confirmed or Suspected Distracted Drivers (Distraction-Related) Involved in Motor Vehicle Crashes by County, 2019 (con't)

County Name
FANNIN FAYETTE FLOYD FORSYTH FRANKLIN FULTON GILMER GLASCOCK GLYNN GORDON GRADY GREENE GWINNETT HABERSHAM HALL HANCOCK HARALSON HARRIS HART HEARD HENRY HOUSTON IRWIN JACKSON JASPER JEFF DAVIS JEFFERSON JENKINS JOHNSON JONES LAMAR LANIER LAURENS LEE LIBERTY LINCOLN LONG LOWNDES LUMPKIN MACON MADISON MARION

Licensed Drivers
22,228 99,950 72,282 186,515 18,612 757,833 25,759 2,170 64,678 43,492 17,118 15,015 691,085 34,756 154,518 5,940 24,301 28,344 20,308 9,398 186,955 120,573 6,929 57,935 11,831 10,319 11,893 5,508 5,854 22,681 14,525 6,345 37,300 25,810 44,311 6,416 10,966 78,964 24,655 7,723 23,867 5,694

Distracted Driving Citations Issued After
a Crash 11 41 17 31 11 346 16 2 32 24 1 3 172 13 125 0 10 13 10 1 33 77 5 18 1 1 0 2 0 0 1 7 12 10 86 1 3 118 14 2 5 2

Distracted Driving Convictions
80 1,353 715 594 215 10,526
81 -684 409 149 15 11,869 375 2,111 17 10 165 57 35 1,135 959 30 629 31 63 60 30 46 81 17 29 385 147 660 4 217 554 213 122 21 2

Percent DistractionRelated MV Traffic
Crashes 58% 64% 56% 63% 62% 52% 59% 62% 55% 58% 41% 62% 57% 62% 62% 48% 58% 63% 62% 64% 61% 57% 59% 58% 73% 48% 45% 44% 56% 73% 63% 66% 53% 58% 51% 56% 59% 49% 66% 45% 67% 60%

Licensed Drivers, Citations Issued after Motor Vehicle Crash, Distracted Driving Convictions, and Percent Confirmed or Suspected Distracted Drivers (Distraction-Related) Involved in Motor Vehicle Crashes by County, 2019 (con't)

County Name
MCDUFFIE MCINTOSH MERIWETHER MILLER MITCHELL MONROE MONTGOMERY MORGAN MURRAY MUSCOGEE NEWTON OCONEE OGLETHORPE PAULDING PEACH PICKENS PIERCE PIKE POLK PULASKI PUTNAM QUITMAN RABUN RANDOLPH RICHMOND ROCKDALE SCHLEY SCREVEN SEMINOLE SPALDING STEPHENS STEWART SUMTER TALBOT TALIAFERRO TATTNALL TAYLOR TELFAIR TERRELL THOMAS TIFT TOOMBS

Licensed Drivers
16,413 9,557 17,813 4,284 15,162 28,720 6,171 16,838 29,469 137,355 90,116 33,362 12,248 128,522 19,452 29,400 15,105 16,024 32,508 6,357 17,582 1,665 14,460 4,629 138,226 70,708 3,497 10,928 7,030 52,839 21,131 2,851 20,136 4,790 1,209 14,720 6,008 7,230 6,680 35,065 28,790 20,044

Distracted Driving Citations Issued After
a Crash 6 0 2 0 1 2 2 5 6 68 13 5 0 64 7 6 2 0 4 7 2 0 2 0 37 15 2 4 1 15 4 0 12 0 1 5 0 0 3 6 14 4

Distracted Driving Convictions
167 87 237 22 26 244 15 282 303 36 556 338 112 583 169 71 3 148 62 43 6 3 61 5 753 640 11 33 40 1,371 206 12 258 --117 64 150 128 454 518 341

Percent DistractionRelated MV Traffic
Crashes 54% 48% 63% 36% 55% 57% 48% 62% 57% 50% 59% 62% 64% 61% 51% 63% 53% 70% 58% 51% 72% 65% 61% 57% 53% 57% 65% 55% 40% 54% 54% 54% 43% 66% 67% 52% 45% 37% 49% 53% 49% 57%

Licensed Drivers, Citations Issued after Motor Vehicle Crash, Distracted Driving Convictions, and Percent Confirmed or Suspected Distracted Drivers (Distraction-Related) Involved in Motor Vehicle Crashes by County, 2019 (con't)

County Name
TOWNS TREUTLEN TROUP TURNER TWIGGS UNION UPSON WALKER WALTON WARE WARREN WASHINGTON WAYNE WEBSTER WHEELER WHITE WHITFIELD WILCOX WILKES WILKINSON WORTH

Licensed Drivers
10,865 4,687 52,056 6,373 6,768 21,685 21,551 52,575 78,316 25,054 3,977 14,389 21,784 1,843 3,684 23,720 74,188 5,353 7,449 7,222 15,121

Distracted Driving Citations Issued After
a Crash 0 0 38 0 0 3 4 14 28 4 7 1 1 0 0 7 94 1 2 1
1

Distracted Driving Convictions
66 31 259 66 57 34 240 207 416 196 12 36 55 5 14 51 805 38 1 134

Percent DistractionRelated MV Traffic
Crashes 62% 51% 54% 49% 76% 68% 45% 56% 59% 53% 67% 62% 55% 62% 50% 62% 56% 46% 61% 66%
64%