The true danger behind smartphone-based distracted driving may not be as widely known as other road risks, but new data sources reveal that it is one of the most dangerous – yet prevalent – behaviors responsible for crashes that are 100% preventable. As part of a recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for advanced impaired driving prevention technologies, NHTSA estimates that distracted driving caused 12,405 fatalities in 2021, 28% of all traffic deaths that year. This represents a societal safety cost of approximately $158 billion. This figure is derived from an imputation model which is much higher than those crashes which are directly attributed to distracted driving. The challenge in confirming the presence of smartphone distraction, and understanding its impact as a whole has muted safety efforts needed to combat the problem. This report aims to highlight new methods road safety officials are undertaking to mitigate it.