Review of recent literature on the effectiveness of distracted driving laws
Reagan, Ian J.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
April 2021
Abstract
A review of 16 studies examining the relationship between laws banning cellphone use and crash outcomes found an encouraging reduction in crashes. On average, bans of texting or cellphone use were associated with an approximate 6% reduction in fatal crash metrics, and those laws with a primary enforcement component were associated with a 12% reduction. The results do not represent strong evidence of a causal relationship, however, due to methodological limitations.
A review of 16 studies examining the relationship between laws banning cellphone use and crash outcomes found an encouraging reduction in crashes. On average, bans of texting or cellphone use were associated with an approximate 6% reduction in fatal crash metrics, and those laws with a primary enforcement component were associated with a 12% reduction. The results do not represent strong evidence of a causal relationship, however, due to methodological limitations.
Abstract
A review of 16 studies examining the relationship between laws banning cellphone use and crash outcomes found an encouraging reduction in crashes. On average, bans of texting or cellphone use were associated with an approximate 6% reduction in fatal crash metrics, and those laws with a primary enforcement component were associated with a 12% reduction. The results do not represent strong evidence of a causal relationship, however, due to methodological limitations.Distracted driving, ID: 2232