IIHS: Police Reports Drastically Underreport Phone Use in Crashes
Telematics data reveals phone activity in up to 8% of crashes, while police reports identify it in less than 1%.
Official police reports are failing to capture the true scale of distracted driving, according to a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The research reveals a stark discrepancy between officer observations at crash scenes and the digital footprints left by smartphones.
Analyzing nearly 17,000 crashes across four states between 2021 and 2024, the IIHS found that police reports recorded cellphone use in less than 1% of incidents. However, anonymized telematics data from Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) told a different story. The digital records detected phone activity within 30 seconds of impact in 7% of single-vehicle crashes and 8% of two-vehicle crashes.
The Role of Telematics
The study relied on data from CMT, a provider of safe-driving app technology. Unlike police officers, who must rely on witness statements or visible evidence at the scene, CMT's systems provide a granular look at driver behavior. The technology is capable of distinguishing between handheld calls, hands-free calls, and physical manipulation—such as tapping or swiping—and can determine if a device screen was unlocked at the time of the incident.
Industry Implications
These findings suggest that official government statistics drastically undercount the prevalence of distracted driving on public roads. This reporting gap complicates efforts to understand the actual risk factors contributing to collisions and may hinder the development of effective safety policies. When the primary source of crash data—the police report—misses the vast majority of phone-related distractions, the industry operates with a flawed understanding of driver behavior.
Privacy and Legal Risks
Beyond the statistical gap, the study highlights a growing tension between insurance technology and driver privacy. Because many insurance-linked telematics apps create a detailed digital record of behavior, a driver's phone may provide evidence that officers missed at the scene. This creates a scenario where a digital record of phone use could be disclosed through legal processes, effectively exposing a driver even if the initial police report contains no mention of distraction.
Looking Ahead
As safe-driving apps become more integrated into insurance premiums and fleet management, the reliance on telematics over traditional reporting is likely to increase. The IIHS study underscores the increasing capability of these apps to track behavior in real-time, though it remains to be seen how this data will be standardized or utilized in legal and regulatory frameworks moving forward.