Texting and Driving: Are Bans Effective?
It’s an issue that’s come to light nationwide—texting and driving. While states like California have all but banned cell phone use for drivers, other states may have no laws in place. Most states fall somewhere in between on the spectrum, either banning the use of text or data services altogether, or like Missouri, for specific age groups.
Nationwide, the US bans texting and driving for federal employees, as well as bus or big rig operators.
But here’s the question many of us are asking: does it work?
According to a study released by the Highway Loss Data Institute, not so much.
“The laws aren’t reducing crashes, even though we know that such laws have reduced handheld phone use, and several studies have established that phoning while driving increases crash risk,” said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and HLDI.
The study compared trends in the District of Columbia, Connecticut, California, Maryland and Virginia. They found no change in the rate of accidents.
The study shows that while a reduction in the number of drivers talking on a handheld phone after the bans is very significant, New York was the only region seeing a reduction in accidents. The drop in their accident rate, however, began before the ban was enacted.
“This is surprising, given what we know about the growing use of cell phones and the risk of phoning while driving,” Lund said. “We’re currently gathering data to figure out this mismatch.”
Lund identifies several possible reasons for the results. Most importantly, cell phone driving laws can be difficult to enforce. Many teens admit that while they know texting and driving is dangerous, they will continue to do it regardless of legislation.
“Whatever the reason, the key finding is that crashes aren’t going down where hand-held phone use has been banned,” notes Lund. “This finding doesn’t auger well for any safety payoff from all the new laws that ban phone use and texting while driving.”
Related posts:
- Virginia and Maryland Consider Bans on "Driving While Texting"
- Truckers and Bus Drivers Banned Nationwide from Texting | Virginia Traffic Lawyer
- Starting July 1, 2009 – Texting While Driving is Illegal in Virginia
- If You Drive While Texting, Then You May be Ticketed in Virginia
- Text Messaging More Dangerous Than Drunk Driving?
Tags: cell phone laws, cell phone use, Highway Loss Data Institute, Reckless Driving, texting and driving accidents, Texting While Driving, Virginia
yes, rightly said, during driving mobile phones should be avoided.
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Good