Root Insurance's 2025 Focused Driving Report highlights distracted driving trends, revealing significant phone usage among U.S. drivers.
Quiver AI Summary
Root Insurance has published its 2025 Focused Driving Report as part of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, highlighting the serious issue of distracted driving, which causes over 3,200 fatalities annually in the U.S. The report, based on an analysis of over 1.3 billion miles of driving data, shows that drivers are distracted by their phones nearly 11% of the time. Geographic trends indicate that states like Oregon and Washington have more focused drivers, while Louisiana leads in distraction. Gen Z is found to be nearly twice as distracted by phones compared to Baby Boomers. The report also reveals that texting is the primary distraction, and many drivers recognize the dangers, with a significant number indicating they would be less likely to use their phones if insurance rates reflected their driving focus. Root emphasizes its commitment to privacy and aims to raise awareness about safe driving through this data-driven analysis.
Potential Positives
- Root Insurance has demonstrated its commitment to road safety by releasing the 2025 Focused Driving Report, highlighting the dangers of distracted driving during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
- The report is based on extensive driving data, analyzing more than 1.3 billion miles, which underscores Root's emphasis on data-driven insights to inform customer practices and improve road safety.
- The release reveals a significant finding that 72% of survey respondents would be less likely to use their phones while driving if their insurance rates reflected their focus, thus promoting safer driving behavior among consumers.
- Root Insurance's privacy commitment is reinforced, as the company emphasizes data security by only collecting information with user permission and not selling user driving data, enhancing trust with customers.
Potential Negatives
- Despite highlighting efforts to address distracted driving, the report indicates that a significant portion of drivers continues to engage in risky behaviors, such as phone use while driving, which poses a negative image for Root Insurance as it suggests that their insurance model may not effectively deter such behavior.
- The survey results reveal that nearly half of the respondents admitted to a close call or accident while distracted, raising concerns about the overall safety of the driving population and potentially undercutting consumer confidence in the effectiveness of Root's insurance products.
- The high percentage of Gen Z drivers using their phones nearly twice as often as older generations may indicate a growing trend of distracted driving that could lead to increased claims and higher risks for the company, challenging its technological solutions and underwriting practices.
FAQ
What is the 2025 Focused Driving Report?
The 2025 Focused Driving Report analyzes real-world driving data to highlight distracted driving dangers in recognition of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
How much driving data did Root Insurance analyze?
Root Insurance analyzed over 1.3 billion miles of driving data from across the U.S. to assess distracted driving trends.
Which states are the most focused and distracted while driving?
Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia are the most focused states, while Louisiana, Mississippi, and Illinois ranked as the most distracted.
What did the survey reveal about phone use while driving?
The survey found that 86% of drivers cited texting as the top distraction, with 72% stating they would drive better if rates reflected their focus.
How does Root Insurance protect driver privacy?
Root ensures driver privacy by only collecting data from users who give permission via the app; they do not sell driving information.
Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated summary of a press release distributed by GlobeNewswire. The model used to summarize this release may make mistakes. See the full release here.
$ROOT Insider Trading Activity
$ROOT insiders have traded $ROOT stock on the open market 38 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 38 have been sales.
Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $ROOT stock by insiders over the last 6 months:
- MEYER MALKA has made 0 purchases and 30 sales selling 446,220 shares for an estimated $36,730,007.
- ALEXANDER E. TIMM (Chief Executive Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 8,497 shares for an estimated $1,070,814.
- DOUG ULMAN has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 6,000 shares for an estimated $904,120.
- JONATHAN ALLISON (Chief Administrative Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 9,500 shares for an estimated $832,833.
- MAHTIYAR BONAKDARPOUR (President and CTO) sold 5,515 shares for an estimated $688,161
- JULIE SZUDAREK sold 2,000 shares for an estimated $192,666
To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.
$ROOT Hedge Fund Activity
We have seen 91 institutional investors add shares of $ROOT stock to their portfolio, and 48 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.
Here are some of the largest recent moves:
- RIBBIT MANAGEMENT COMPANY, LLC removed 446,220 shares (-26.8%) from their portfolio in Q4 2024, for an estimated $32,391,109
- T. ROWE PRICE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC. added 408,599 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q4 2024, for an estimated $29,660,201
- HOOD RIVER CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC removed 245,943 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2024, for an estimated $17,853,002
- MARSHALL WACE, LLP removed 231,728 shares (-79.4%) from their portfolio in Q4 2024, for an estimated $16,821,135
- HEALTHCARE OF ONTARIO PENSION PLAN TRUST FUND added 94,000 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q4 2024, for an estimated $6,823,460
- JANE STREET GROUP, LLC added 90,207 shares (+397.5%) to their portfolio in Q4 2024, for an estimated $6,548,126
- CUBIST SYSTEMATIC STRATEGIES, LLC removed 90,131 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2024, for an estimated $6,542,609
To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.
$ROOT Analyst Ratings
Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $ROOT in the last several months. We have seen 1 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.
Here are some recent analyst ratings:
- Wells Fargo issued a "Buy" rating on 03/02/2025
To track analyst ratings and price targets for $ROOT, check out Quiver Quantitative's $ROOT forecast page.
Full Release
COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Root Insurance, a technology-driven personal car insurance carrier and subsidiary of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROOT), today released its 2025 Focused Driving Report in recognition of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Using real-world driving data, the report sheds light on one of the most dangerous behaviors behind the wheel. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving claims more than 3,200 lives in the U.S. every year.
Root, known for its modern data science approach to car insurance, offers rates primarily based on how people drive. The company analyzed more than 1.3 billion miles of driving data from across the country. The findings reveal that, on average, U.S. drivers are distracted by their phones for nearly 11 out of every 100 miles driven, or 11% of the time. Additionally, Root surveyed 500 drivers nationwide to better understand what’s pulling their attention from the road and what they’re doing to stay focused in the driver’s seat.
Read the 2025 Focused Driving Report at joinroot.com/2025-focused-driving-report.
“Phone use behind the wheel remains one of the most common and preventable risks on the road,” said Matt Bonakdarpour, President and Chief Technology Officer at Root Insurance. “Distracted driving doesn’t just put the driver at risk, it endangers everyone around them and often creates a ripple effect of other unsafe behaviors, such as hard braking and sharp turns. Our data makes it clear that phone use while driving is still a major issue, and staying focused is one of the simplest ways to make the roads safer for everyone.”
Findings from Root’s data analysis include:
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Geographic Differences
- Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia were the most focused states.
- Louisiana, Mississippi, and Illinois ranked as the most distracted.
- Portland, Oregon, topped the list of most focused metros (8.74%).
- New Orleans, Louisiana, was the most distracted (15.20%) , with drivers picking up their phones nearly 7 more times per 100 miles than those in Portland.
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Generational Divide
- Gen Z drivers use their phones nearly twice as often (14.78%) as Baby Boomers (6.34% ) while driving.
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Early Morning Focus
- 5:00 a.m. is the least distracted hour of the day (7.16%).
- 7:00 p.m. saw the highest rates of phone use behind the wheel (11.65%).
Survey Insights:
- 86% of drivers cited texting while driving as the most common phone-based distraction, followed by social media use (77%) and handheld phone calls (75%).
- Nearly half (46%) admitted to a close call or accident while distracted; 60% of them reported changing their driving behavior afterward.
- 13% of drivers admitted to using social media while driving. Among those, Facebook was the most commonly used app at 64% , followed by Instagram & TikTok at 61%.
- Encouragingly, 72% of respondents said they’d be less likely to use their phones while driving if their insurance rate reflected their focus behind the wheel—a model Root uses to reward safe driving behavior.
The 2025 Focused Driving Report , which uses driving data collected from January to December of 2024, offers a data-driven look at distracted driving trends across the U.S. to raise awareness and encourage safer habits behind the wheel.
Privacy Commitment:
Root is committed to protecting driver privacy, and data security is a core part of its business. The company only collects data from users who enable permissions through the app, and it does not sell user driving information.
About Root, Inc.
Founded in 2015 and based in Columbus, Ohio, Root, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROOT) is the parent company of Root Insurance Company. Root is revolutionizing insurance through data science and technology to provide consumers a personalized, easy, and fair experience. The Root app has more than 15 million app downloads and has collected more than 31 billion miles of driving data to inform their insurance offerings.
For further information on Root, visit root.com .
Contact:
[email protected]
