Police Reports Severely Undercount Cell Phone Use in Car Crashes, IIHS Study Finds

Official police records are failing to capture the true extent of distracted driving, according to a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The research reveals a stark gap between what drivers admit to law enforcement and the actual digital footprints left by their devices.

Analyzing 15,301 two-vehicle crashes across four states between 2021 and 2024, researchers compared official police reports with telematics data from safe-driving applications. The results showed that while police reports documented phone manipulation in only 17 cases, the app data revealed that 590 drivers were actually manipulating their phones within 30 seconds of the impact. This figure specifically excludes passive use, such as GPS navigation, and active phone calls, focusing instead on direct device manipulation.

The Challenge of Proof

The study underscores the systemic difficulty law enforcement officers face when attempting to prove distracted driving at a crash scene. Because phone manipulation is often a brief action, it is frequently invisible to witnesses and difficult for officers to verify without forensic data. Furthermore, the study suggests a significant behavioral barrier: drivers are rarely forthcoming about their phone use when questioned by police following a collision.

"Cell phone use prior to a crash is underreported at police crash reports," said Aimee Cox, a research scientist at the IIHS and lead author of the study. "That's just not information that drivers are necessarily willing and very forthcoming with."

Implications for Road Safety

This data gap suggests that official crash statistics severely underestimate the role of mobile devices in road accidents. When the primary source of safety data—the police report—is inaccurate, it creates a ripple effect that hinders the ability of policymakers and safety organizations to accurately assess the risk of distracted driving. Without a precise understanding of how often phone use contributes to collisions, the development and implementation of effective countermeasures and legislative interventions remain based on incomplete information.

Future Outlook

As telematics and safe-driving apps become more prevalent, the IIHS and other safety advocates may push for better integration of digital evidence in crash investigations. The study highlights a critical need for more objective data collection methods to replace reliance on driver testimony. For now, the discrepancy serves as a warning that the actual prevalence of distracted driving on the road is likely far higher than current official statistics suggest.