Motus, a vehicle management and reimbursement platform, released new research around the rising trend of distracted driving in the mobile workforce. Its “2018 Distracted Driving Report” found that as smartphone ownership has increased across an ever-growing mobile workforce, there has been a parallel in rising accident rates.

Specifically, the report found that as smartphone ownership jumped from 55% in 2013 to 77% in 2017, the number of accidents escalated from 5.7 million to 6.4 million—an increase of 12.3%.

Drawing on its data, captured across the world’s largest retained pool of drivers, Motus calculated that mobile workers drive more frequently than the average American—taking 49% more trips behind the wheel than any other type of employee. Based on these numbers, Motus estimates that the average mobile worker travels about 1,200 distracted miles every year.

Distractions such as eating, handling navigation or music controls and phone calls have been pulling drivers’ focus from the road for years. However, we’ve discovered a clear correlation between increased smartphone ownership across the mobile workforce and the number of total accidents over the last five years. Between 2014 and 2016, for example, there were substantial spikes in both smartphone ownership and car accidents that involved property damage, injuries or fatalities.

—Ken Robinson, market research analyst for Motus