For people who believe that hands-free use of their cellphone while driving is the solution to the distracted driving epidemic in the United States, a new report from the Christian Science Monitor seems to put the lie to that contention. As reported in the Monitor, in 2015 the national car crash rate went up at the fastest rate in nearly 50 years, and hands-free smartphone use may be largely to blame.
A total of 35,092 people were killed in auto wrecks in 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports. The Monitor notes that the biggest increase in cause of wreck came in the distraction category. Those type of deadly crashes jumped 8.8 percent.