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Hawaii one of worst states in distracted driving deaths

Hawaii has among the highest deaths related to distracted driving, a new report says.

Let’s Talk, made up of a team of writers and editors that covers phone plans, found that the state ranks fifth in the category, behind Louisiana, Kentucky, Kansas and New Mexico, which had the highest rate of deaths for distracted driving.

It found that Hawaii experienced a 41% increase in distracted driving fatalities between 2015-2018.

In 2015, there were 17 fatalities caused by distracted driving, 18 in 2016, 28 in 2017 and 24 in 2019.

The nationwide average is 9.2 deaths per million people, but Hawaii’s rate was 16.9 deaths.

New Mexico had 61.6 deaths per million; Kansas had 31.6; Kentucky had 26.9; and Louisiana had 23.2.

Let’s Talk said distracted driving is most prevalent among people 16-24 years old and that the numbers may be even higher because distracted driving is under reported in many states.

Statistics were retrieved from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association.

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