Breaking: Matt Richtel book homepage bogus statistic removed

Three years and 10 minute of work later.

More bad reporting on texting and driving, and new data

Even though the spike in traffic deaths is concerning, reporting should not be wrong.

NYT’s Richtel traffic hype soars at historic rate

On the road with facts and representations about auto fatalities.

Why can’t the texting-panic establishment handle the truth?

Don't drive distracted, okay? Now for some more updated facts. (Follow the whole series under the texting tag.) The Diane Rehm show on NPR (Washington station WAMU) did another full episode on the perils of distracted driving. The extremely misleading title of the episode was, "Distracted Driving: What It Will Take To Lower Fatalities." The…

Research on teen crashes confirms that reporters selling books on phone risks hype phone risks

Using phones while driving is dangerous and should stop. But the focus on this issue distracts us from other dangers in driving (which have -- you'd never believe from the news -- declined rapidly in recent decades). And it distracts us from the broader danger of relying on motor vehicle transportation. I dwell on this subject because it offers…

Why you can’t understand the texting and driving problem in one chart, in one chart

Fascination with using data to tell stories runs up against the need to tell stories in the length of a tweet or in one chart, sometimes resulting in data-focused news that uninforms people rather than informing them.

The number one cause of traffic fatalities

Pulitzer-prize-winning New York Times reporter Matt Richtel is using bad facts to scare people about texting and driving -- which is dangerous, because it's driving.

Deciphering a well-told data story, cars are good for kids edition

Some tips for critical reading in light of the marriage-reduces-rape controversy.

Are so many people giving birth while driving and texting that most of the deaths are canceled out?

A rabbit hole of local TV news links leads to a dramatic fact meme contradicted within the same story by a dramatic infographic.

Cell phones don’t kill people, cars kill people

Some people have a deep, abiding respect for the safety of their fellow citizens. And some people don't.