Distracted Driving Awareness Month is a national campaign held every April to reduce crashes caused by drivers whose eyes, hands or attention are off the road. The National Safety Council (NSC) leads the observance in the United States and supplies free posters, pledges, safety talks and policy templates for employers. Federal and state traffic safety agencies run enforcement and media campaigns during the same month.
For employers, the month is a natural point to review how employees drive on the job. Anyone who drives a company vehicle, a personal car on company business or a commercial motor vehicle is exposed, and a single glance at a phone can turn a routine delivery or sales call into a serious crash.
When Is Distracted Driving Awareness Month in 2027?
Distracted Driving Awareness Month runs for the full month of April, from April 1 to April 30, 2027. The timing does not change from year to year. NSC publishes a campaign message and new materials each spring; in recent years its message has been Just Drive, which asks drivers to commit to driving free of distractions. The 2027 materials and message will be announced by NSC closer to April.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has also scheduled national distracted driving enforcement periods in April in recent years, so drivers may see more police attention to phone use during the month.
Why It Matters at Work
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of workplace deaths. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that transportation incidents caused 1,937 of the 5,070 fatal work injuries in 2024, or 38.2 percent of all occupational fatalities, according to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.
Distraction is a major factor on the road in general. NHTSA reported that 3,275 people were killed and 324,819 were injured in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2023. NSC notes that hands-free technology is not the same as distraction-free driving, because a conversation or a voice command still pulls attention away from the road.
Distraction comes in three forms that often overlap:
- Visual: looking at a phone, GPS screen, paperwork or something outside the vehicle.
- Manual: taking a hand off the wheel to text, eat, adjust controls or reach for an item.
- Cognitive: thinking about a call, a schedule or a problem instead of the traffic around you.
For employers, every crash also means possible injuries, vehicle downtime, liability claims and higher insurance costs. Many of these crashes are preventable with clear rules and consistent follow-through.
How to Take Part
- Use the NSC materials. NSC offers free posters, a social media kit, a 5-minute safety talk, a fact sheet and the Just Drive pledge on its Distracted Driving Awareness Month materials page.
- Review your safe driving policy. Make sure it covers phone use, in-cab devices, navigation setup and what drivers should do if a call cannot wait. NSC provides a policy template you can adapt.
- Ask drivers to sign a pledge. A short written commitment to put the phone away, set navigation before moving and pull over to handle calls reinforces the policy.
- Change dispatch habits. Agree that managers and dispatchers will not call or message drivers they know are on the road, and set expected response times that allow drivers to stop first.
- Hold a toolbox talk on the first day of the month and repeat key points in shift meetings.
- Look at your data. Review your vehicle accident register and near-miss reports for patterns, such as rear-end collisions or backing incidents, that may point to inattention.
- Connect the month to other campaigns. National Work Zone Awareness Week also falls in April and carries the same message about attention behind the wheel.
Toolbox Talk: Phone Down, Eyes Up
- Set up before you roll. Enter the destination, pick audio and adjust mirrors and seat before you put the vehicle in gear.
- Put the phone out of reach. Turn on do-not-disturb or driving mode and keep the phone in a mount or a bag, not in your lap or cup holder.
- Hands-free is not risk-free. Even a hands-free call takes your mind off the road. Keep calls short or let them go to voicemail.
- Pull over to handle it. If a call, message or paperwork needs attention, stop in a safe, legal spot first.
- Watch for other distractions. Eating, reaching for dropped items and adjusting screens all take your eyes and hands away from driving.
- Speak up. Passengers and coworkers should feel free to remind a driver to stay focused, and no one should expect a reply from someone who is driving.
Discussion question: What is the hardest distraction for you to resist while driving for work, and what would make it easier to ignore?
Related Requirements
For drivers of commercial motor vehicles, federal rules go beyond general guidance. FMCSA regulations prohibit texting while driving a CMV and ban holding a mobile phone to make a call, dialing by pressing more than one button, or reaching for a phone in a way that takes the driver out of a seated, belted position. Hands-free use within close reach is allowed. According to the FMCSA mobile phone restrictions fact sheet, drivers can face penalties of up to $2,750, employers that allow or require hand-held use can face penalties of up to $11,000, and repeat violations can lead to disqualification. Many states also have their own hand-held and texting laws that apply to all drivers.
How SMS360 Helps
Fleet360 gives fleet and safety managers one place to support a distracted driving program. You can schedule and track driver training, store signed policies and pledges with each driver's records, run digital vehicle inspections and checklists from a mobile device, and record crashes, near misses and observations as they happen. Corrective actions can be assigned and followed to completion, and dashboards help you spot trends across drivers, vehicles and locations so the April campaign carries into the rest of the year.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Distracted Driving Awareness Month 2027?
Distracted Driving Awareness Month takes place for the whole month of April, from April 1 to April 30, 2027. The month stays the same every year. NSC typically releases its campaign materials ahead of April.
Who sponsors Distracted Driving Awareness Month?
The National Safety Council leads the observance and provides free materials for employers, families and communities. NHTSA and state highway safety offices support the month with enforcement and public awareness campaigns about phone use behind the wheel.
Is using a hands-free phone while driving safe?
Hands-free use is legal in many situations, including for CMV drivers under FMCSA rules, but it is not free of risk. NSC research shows that hands-free devices still distract drivers mentally. The safest approach is to avoid calls while driving or keep them brief and pull over when a conversation needs your full attention.
