App data shows drivers text most during afternoon rush hours

New Mexico drivers may want to use extra caution when driving home after work. According to a new study, afternoon rush hours are the time of day when the most Americans are texting and driving. Such distractions could make drivers more prone to causing car accidents.

Drivemode is an app that lets drivers of older cars use certain smartphone functions in hands-free mode. The makers of the app studied one year of data from 177,000 Android users to find out when drivers were most likely to text and drive. During that time, drivers used the app to send or receive approximately 6.5 million messages.

The analysis found that the busiest time for texting was between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., with drivers averaging 6.87 messages per hour during that period. The second busiest time for texting was between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., with drivers averaging 6.59 messages per hour. Overall, New Yorker drivers sent the most text messages during afternoon rush hours, averaging 8.21 text messages per hour. Hawaii drivers came in second, averaging 7.90 text messages per hour, and Florida drivers came in third, averaging 7.87 text messages per hour. The most popular platforms for sending texts were standard SMS texting, Facebook and WhatsApp.

Texting and driving is a common cause of car accidents. If a driver was texting in the moments leading up to a crash, he or she could be held accountable for any injuries that resulted from the accident. An attorney could use crash investigation reports and other evidence as the basis to file a personal injury lawsuit on behalf of an injured victim.