‘Two seconds’: How technology plays a role in distracted driving in Tennessee

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — According to the Tennessee Highway Safety Office data for 2026, a distracted driver is involved in a crash every 43 minutes.

We spoke with the vice president of State Farm as well as an AAA spokesperson on some of the misconceptions about distracted driving and how technology plays a factor in safe habits on the road.

A new AAA study shows how effective smartphone blocking technology is when it comes to minimizing accidents across Tennessee.

Almost all 50 states have texting ban laws, with Tennessee passing the hands-free law back in 2019.

State Farm experts say that even just taking your eyes off the road for two seconds is a form of distraction

“So it’s definitely more than just cell phones. And through our research, we found that the cognitive or the mental distraction is just as dangerous as physically holding something, you know, putting on makeup, holding a cell phone. Those cognitive distractions are a little bit more sneaky. So what we found is, not only do they exist, but hands-free is not risk-free, said Megan Cooper, AAA Spokesperson.”

“We can change things. We can put our phones away. We can turn on the Do Not Disturb mode. We can get, I got a car seat for the dog, and she sits in the back. There are things that we can do ourselves, and even for those of you who think maybe it’s not a problem, all we have to do is look around right, we see those drivers doing a little quick swerve because they’re probably on their phone, said Sara Frank, Frankowiak, Vice President, State Farm.”

One area the study focused on was why some drivers avoid using the “Do Not Disturb” feature.

A recent survey showed that 68 percent of people admitted to some sort of distracted driving habits.