IN OTHER NEWS – New data recently revealed that Georgia drivers ranked in the top 15 states for the worst driving habits in America.
Release:
With an estimated 5.9 million car crashes in the U.S. every year, smartphones are involved in over 27% of the cases, according to the National Safety Council (NSC).
New data from Hard Rock reveals the most reckless U.S. states where Americans spend time watching sport on their phone whilst driving.
Georgia:
- #12 overall
- 13% admitted to being distracted by watching sports whilst driving
- Over 234K estimated car crashes in the last 12 months.
With an estimated 5.9 million car crashes in the U.S. every year, smartphones accounted for over 27% of road accidents in 2024, according to the National Safety Council (NSC). This staggering statistic is in line with the growing concern over distracted driving, particularly as mobile phone usage on the road continues to rise.
A new report from Hard Rock, which looked at the generational differences among sports fans, found that on average 1 in 10 Americans watch sports on their phone whilst driving.
| Rank | State | Would watch sport while driving | Estimated crashes (last 12 months) |
| 1 | Ohio | 20% | 180,085 |
| 2 | California | 19% | 588,830 |
| 3 | Nevada | 18% | 56,404 |
| =3 | Washington | 18% | 117,447 |
| 5 | North Carolina | 17% | 226,339 |
| 6 | Florida | 16% | 492,408 |
| 7 | Colorado | 15% | 104,397 |
| 8 | Minnesota | 14% | 59,304 |
| =8 | New York | 14% | 161,526 |
| =8 | Texas | 14% | 622,179 |
| =8 | Washington D.C. | 14% | 22,000 |
| 12 | Arizona | 13% | 189,075 |
| =12 | Georgia | 13% | 234,169 |
| =12 | Maryland | 13% | 90,043 |
| =12 | Pennsylvania | 13% | 175,591 |
| 16 | Illinois | 11% | 179,940 |
| =16 | Indiana | 11% | 130,207 |
| =16 | Massachusetts | 11% | 49,734 |
| 19 | Michigan | 9% | 158,626 |
| =19 | Missouri | 9% | 143,691 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 7% | 191,830 |
| 22 | Wisconsin | 6% | 84,533 |
| 23 | Louisiana | 5% | 117,592 |
Ohio ranks as the most reckless driving state with 20% of the respondents admitting to watching sports whilst driving. With an estimated 180K car accidents in Ohio in the last 12 months, the findings highlight that Ohio drivers are still easily distracted on the road, despite the 2023 law banning the use of handheld electronic wireless communication devices while driving.
California ranks as the second most reckless state when it comes to being distracted on the wheel. In fact, 19% of Californians said they’d happily watch their favorite NFL team play live whilst driving. Not surprising when The Golden State registered over 588K road accidents in the last 12 months, the second highest number behind Texas (622K).
Nevada and Washington take the joint third place with 18% of respondents claiming they would watch their favorite sports team play even whilst driving. In terms of car accidents however, Nevada has a significantly lower count (56K), more than half compared to Washington (117K).
For more information on the full study, looking at the generational differences among sports fans in the U.S., please visit: https://www.hardrock.bet/news/how-nfl-fandom-is-evolving/
Methodology
The findings combine anonymized Hard Rock Bet wagering data with insights from a survey of 2,000 NFL fans across the U.S., conducted in August 2025. The participants were asked where they would watch a game live if they didn’t go to the stadium, with “Whilst driving” being one of the options.
