Road Risk Alert: A Christmas Distraction Story
In A Christmas Story, everyone told Ralphie he was going to shoot his eye out with his new BB gun. And then he did it anyway. The data for distracted driving on Christmas tell a similar dangerous tale.
We’ve been reporting on the jump in holiday distraction for years. Our analyses over the past 5 years span more than 100 million car trips and show that the holiday season consistently sees two surges on distraction, on Christmas and New Year’s Day.
In 2023, Christmas fell on a Monday. In this analysis, we compared Christmas distraction to the Mondays before and after Christmas to better account for daily driving trends. On these Mondays around Christmas, drivers typically spend an average of 2 minutes and 3 seconds per hour interacting with their phones behind the wheel. However, on Christmas Day, this figure jumps to 2 minutes and 27 seconds per hour — a 19.4% increase compared to surrounding Mondays. CMT defines distracted driving as any interaction with a phone screen while a vehicle is moving at over 9 mph.
The consequences of these increases in distraction are severe. CMT’s research indicates that a 10% rise in distracted driving correlates with a 1.5% increase in severe injuries and fatalities. For 2023 alone, this means that the 19.4% surge in distraction was responsible for an additional 650 crashes, 360 severe injuries, 3 fatalities, and $26 million in economic damages.
New Year’s Day, which also fell on a Monday in 2024, shows similar patterns. On the Mondays surrounding New Year’s, screen interaction averaged 2 minutes and 3 seconds per hour. On New Year’s Day, distraction rose by 16.4% to 2 minutes and 24 seconds, making it the third most distracted day of the year (compared to 2023 figures).
Since 2020, every Christmas Day has ranked among the 100 most distracted days in the past 5 years, with none recording less than 2 minutes and 27 seconds of screen interaction per hour. Similarly, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day both show significant distraction-related impacts every year.
While the overall distraction rates increase for the entire day, we can learn more about the distinct driving patterns for each holiday by analyzing the hour-by-hour distraction patterns.
Compared to the surrounding Monday, we see a distinct trend in screen interaction on Christmas Day. Starting at 4:00 a.m., Christmas Day experiences 33% more distraction than the typical holiday Monday. Distraction rises from there, reaching a 20% difference at 9:00 a.m. These patterns could reflect the excitement of early holiday activities, such as families traveling to spend Christmas morning together.
After this peak, screen interaction stabilizes on Christmas Day at 2 minutes and 30 seconds until 7:00 p.m. On a typical Monday, distraction rises throughout rush hour, and it briefly overtakes the distraction on Christmas Day. By 10:00 p.m., however, Christmas Day distraction is again higher than the typical Monday by 5%, perhaps due to post-celebration holiday travel.
New Year’s Day shows its own unique distraction patterns throughout the day. Distraction levels on New Year’s Day hit their largest gap at 3:00 a.m., 42% higher than on a typical early Monday morning. 4:00 a.m. sits at about the same difference, 41.7% higher than other Mondays. These gaps are likely due to people finishing their New Year’s Eve parties and traveling home.
By 6:00 a.m., distraction falls below normal Monday levels. By 10:00 a.m., screen use increases sharply to a 14% difference, then spreads the gap to 17.6% by 12:00 p.m. These times align with when friends and family have New Year’s Day brunch. At 5:00 PM, distraction climbs even higher, reaching 18.2%. It remains elevated throughout the evening.
Let’s make it a safe holiday for everyone
The holidays bring joy, connection, and celebration—but also an alarming rise in distracted driving. Both Christmas and New Year’s Day show clear patterns of increased phone use behind the wheel, with screen interaction peaking during times of travel, gatherings, and holiday activities.
If we can learn anything from Ralphie, it’s to pay attention to when there are elevated risks. So, this holiday season, don’t be like Ralphie — keep your phone down and stay safe, for you and everyone else on the road.