Driver electronic device use in 2010.

The percentage of drivers text-messaging or visibly manipulating hand-held devices increased significantly for a second year in a row from 0.9 percent in 2010 to 1.3 percent in 2011, while driver hand-held cell phone use stood at 5 percent in 2011. These results are from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), which provides the only nationwide probability-based observed data on driver electronic device use in the United States. The NOPUS is conducted annually by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The percentage of drivers holding cell phones to their ears while driving stood at 5 percent in 2011. This rate translates into 660,000 vehicles driven by people using handheld cell phones at a typical daylight moment in 2011. It also translates into an estimated 9 percent of the vehicles whose drivers were using some type of phone (either hand-held or hands-free) at a typical daylight moment in 2011.