Motor vehicle accidents in the country have increased during the past few years. According to data released from the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) the number of workers’ compensation claims for motor vehicle accidents has also increased during this time even though the frequency of workers’ comp claims overall has decreased.

According to the report “Motor Vehicle Accidents in Workers Compensation” these accidents are responsible for a significant portion of fatal workers’ compensation claims.

The authors of the study used claims data from 2011 to 2016 and found that while the frequency of all claims declined by 17.6 percent, the frequency of motor vehicle accident claims increased by five percent. Motor vehicle accident (MVA) frequency increased during that time in the classes where MVAs are the most common- truckers, taxi drivers and salespersons for example. Motor vehicle claims also cost between 80 and 100 percent more than average claims because of the severity of injuries that result, and they accounted for more than 40 percent of fatal workers’ compensation claims. A motor vehicle claim is twelve times more likely to result in a fatality than a non-motor vehicle claim. They also accounted for a large portion of high-cost claims representing 28 percent of claims above $500,000, versus just five percent of all claims during that time.

The NCCI report noted that during this period smartphones increased in popularity (at the end of 2010 27 percent of cell phones were smartphones but by the end of 2016, 81 percent of cell phones were smartphones) and pointed out that distracted driving may be a contributing factor in the increased in accidents.

NCCI researchers found a similar increase between smartphones and an increase in car accidents and fatal accidents in the general population as well, so this link is not limited to workers’ compensation claims. According to the National Safety Council, at least 27 percent of crashes involve distracted drivers on their phones but also acknowledge that figure may be underreported and so underestimated. The study highlighted ways to combat distracted driving such as utilizing apps that prohibit calls and texts while a vehicle is traveling, self-driving vehicles, and states who have implemented bans on phones or texting while driving.

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