Americans admit to an average of 10 distracted driving behaviors each year. Just 8 percent of drivers said they avoided every distraction listed. Most drivers still believe they are more attentive than the average motorist. Most drivers like to believe they’re paying more attention than everyone else on the road. A new survey suggests the opposite may be true. According to Mercury Insurance, the average American driver admitted to engaging in 10 different distracted driving behaviors over the last year. Despite that, most still believe they are more attentive than the average motorist. That gap between perception and reality is the real headline. Only 8 percent of respondents said they avoided all 27 distracted behaviors listed in the survey. Even more telling is the fact that 69 percent of the people who admitted to 20 or more distractions still rated themselves as more attentive than the average driver. Read: If You’ve Been Squinting Through Oncoming Traffic At Night, You’re Not Imagining It The survey of 2,500 drivers found that the most common distractions are the ones many motorists probably shrug off as harmless. Drinking a beverage while driving topped the list at 79 percent, while 69 percent admitted to adjusting navigation on their phone and the same number said they reached for something inside the car. Sixty-six percent said they took hands-free phone calls, and 61 percent admitted to eating while driving. Stats Mercury Insurance Texting remains a major issue, too. Nearly 59 percent of drivers admitted to reading a text message or notification behind the wheel. More surprisingly, 55 percent said they simply let their minds wander away from the road, while 54 percent admitted to staring at something outside the vehicle instead of traffic. Ironically, the least common distractions were the ones that usually got the most attention. Just 13 percent admitted to scrolling social media while driving, and only 10 percent said they watched short-form videos. If there’s any single major takeaway, it’s that distractions are more prevalent than ever and the most insidious are the ones we might not even consider distractions. The South Looks Especially Distracted Mercury also broke the findings down by state, and Southern drivers stood out for the wrong reasons. Alabama ranked highest, with 45 percent of respondents admitting to driving while distracted. Georgia and Massachusetts followed at 42 percent, while West Virginia and Tennessee were close behind at just over 40 percent. Several other states, including Indiana, Illinois, and Mississippi, clustered around the 40 percent mark, with a broader group landing slightly lower in the high-30s range. Mercury noted that seven states did not have enough respondents to be included, which leaves some gaps in the national picture. Alabama drivers were especially likely to make handheld phone calls. Nearly 80 percent of Georgia drivers admitted to adjusting navigation while driving. Massachusetts, meanwhile, had the highest rate of texting behind the wheel. The survey’s broader point is hard to ignore. Americans know distracted driving is dangerous, but many have normalized it to the point that it no longer feels risky. That confidence may be misplaced. In 2023 alone, distraction-related crashes killed 3,275 people and injured another 289,310 nationwide. Be safe out there, y’all. Photos Ford, Stellantis