Louisiana ranks No. 4 in the the nation for most fatal crashes from distracted driving

A new study revealed Louisiana has the fourth-highest rate of fatal crashes involving distracted drivers in the country.

In Louisiana, 173 of its 887 total fatal crashes involved distracted drivers. That's 19.5% 173, which is 2.4 times higher than the national rate.

Business litigation and personal injury lawyers at Heninger Garrison Davis, a Birmingham, Alabama-based law firm, analyzed the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to see which states has the highest proportion of fatal crashes involving distracted drivers.

New Mexico tops the list with 40.75% of fatal incidents, 174 out of 427, involving a distracted driver, according to the study. This proportion of fatal crashes involving a distracted driver is more than five times greater than the national rate of 8.12% observed across America.

Coming in second of the list is Hawaii with 28.7% of its crashes involving a driver or 27 out of 94 total fatal crashes. This proportion of fatal crashes is more than three and a half times the national rate for crashes involving distracted drivers.

Kansas is third for fatal crashes involving drivers reported to be distracted, with 81 of its 381 total fatal crashes involving a distracted driver, a value of 21.26%. This is over two and a half times the national rate of 8.12%.

New Jersey ranks fifth with 129 out of 669 fatal crashes involving a distracted driver, making it the fifth highest in the country, at a rate of 19.28%. The is more than 2.3 times the national rate for fatal crashes involving distracted drivers.

The remainder of the top 10 states includes: Washington in sixth (16.75%), Illinois in seventh (16.36%), Kentucky eighth (16.35%), Virginia ninth (11.81%) and Idaho in 10th (10.66%).

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This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Louisiana ranks 4 in the most fatal crashes from distracted driving