The number of road wrecks is increasing thanks to drivers who use their phones to text, access the internet and make calls. And the spike in accidents is translating to more expensive car insurance.
Distracted driving has become “an epidemic issue for this country,”
State Farm Auto chief executive Michael La Rocco told The Wall Street Journal recently.
Further, the publication quoted a State Farm survey that revealed that in 2015, 36% of its survey respondents admitted to texting while driving, while 29% said they accessed the internet, compared with 31% and 13% respectively in 2009.
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The survey also revealed that 88% of respondents owned a mobile phone in 2015 compared with 52% in 2011.
“Distracted driving was always there, but it just intensified as more applications for smartphones became available,” Bill Caldwell, Horace Mann executive vice president of property and casualty said in the report.
As a result, premiums are skyrocketing. Quoting the Insurance Information Institute, the publication said the average US car insurance premium cost 16% more in 2016 compared with five years ago.
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