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Here’s How Many U.S. Drivers Still Text Behind the Wheel

A new study uses novel technology to track how many U.S. drivers can’t put their phones down. The results are troubling.
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Photographer: Pekic/E+

Safety regulators still have no idea just how deadly the combination of mobile phones and cars can be, but mounting evidence paints a grim picture.

The latest disconcerting data come from a massive study by Zendrive, a San Francisco-based startup that tracks phone use for automobile insurers and ride-hailing fleets. Of the 2.3 million drivers it monitored over 5.6 billion miles, some 12 percent were characterized as mobile-phone addicts—calling, texting or scrolling through apps three times more than the average driver.