Impact of Texting Laws on Motor Vehicular Fatalities in the United States

Ferdinand, Alva O.; Menachemi, Nir; Sen, Bisakha; Blackburn, Justin; Morrisey, Michael A.; Nelson, Leonard J.

doi:10.2105/ajph.2014.301894

Cited by 38 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Primary enforced laws banning all drivers from texting was associated with a 3% reduction in fatalities in all age groups; banning only young drivers from texting had the greatest impact on reducing deaths among those aged 15 to 21 years (Ferdinand et al, 2014). A similar study found an 8% decrease in fatalities in states that universally banned texting while driving and made it a primary offense.…”

Section: Effectiveness Of Current Mitigation Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adolescent Cellphone Use While Driving: An Overview of the Literature and Promising Future Directions for Prevention

Delgado

Wanner

McDonald

2016

MaC

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Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in adolescents, and drivers aged 16–19 are the most likely to die in distracted driving crashes. This paper provides an overview of the literature on adolescent cellphone use while driving, focusing on the crash risk, incidence, risk factors for engagement, and the effectiveness of current mitigation strategies. We conclude by discussing promising future approaches to prevent crashes related to cellphone use in adolescents. Handheld manipulation of the phone while driving has been shown to have a 3 to 4-fold increased risk of a near crash or crash, and eye glance duration greater than 2 seconds increases crash risk exponentially. Nearly half of U.S. high school students admit to texting while driving in the last month, but the frequency of use according to vehicle speed and high-risk situations remains unknown. Several risk factors are associated with cell phone use while driving including: parental cellphone use while driving, social norms for quick responses to text messages, and higher levels of temporal discounting. Given the limited effectiveness of current mitigation strategies such as educational campaigns and legal bans, a multi-pronged behavioral and technological approach addressing the above risk factors will be necessary to reduce this dangerous behavior in adolescents.

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Section: Effectiveness Of Current Mitigation Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adolescent Cellphone Use While Driving: An Overview of the Literature and Promising Future Directions for Prevention

Delgado

Wanner

McDonald

2016

MaC

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, enforcement of distracted driving laws can present significant challenges,18–21 and laws that are not regularly and strictly enforced are unlikely to deter behaviour 5. Some studies have examined the association between distracted driving laws and measures of distracted driving;22 23 however, to our knowledge, no prior studies have examined the enforcement of distracted driving laws through the perspective of law enforcement officers. The goal of this study was to identify multilevel interdependent factors that influence distracted driving enforcement through the perspective of police officers in Washington State.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I wasn't texting; I was just reading an email …”: a qualitative study of distracted driving enforcement in Washington State

et al. 2016

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Background In response to the rise of distracted driving, many countries and most US states have adopted laws to restrict the use of handheld phones for drivers. Specific provisions of each law and the overall social mores of distracted driving influence enforceability and impact. Objectives Identify multilevel interdependent factors that influence distracted driving enforcement through the perspective of police officers. Design/methods We conducted focus group discussions with active duty law enforcement officers from three large Washington State counties. Our thematic analysis used descriptive and pattern coding that placed our findings within a social ecological framework to facilitate targeted intervention development. Results Participants reported that the distracted driving law posed challenges for consistent and effective enforcement. They emphasised the need to change social norms around distracted driving, similar to the shifts seen around impaired driving. Many participants were themselves distracted drivers, and their individual knowledge, attitude and beliefs influenced enforcement. Participants suggested that law enforcement leaders and policymakers should develop and implement policies and strategies to prioritise and motivate increased distracted driving enforcement. Conclusions Individual, interpersonal, organisational and societal factors influence enforcement of distracted driving laws. Targeted interventions should be developed to address distracted driving and sustain effective enforcement.

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“…Some studies have shown that a texting ban was associated with the decreased number of fatalities and injuries due to motor vehicle crashes (Ferdinand et al, 2014, 2015), whereas other studies have shown that a texting ban was not associated with decreased frequencies of physically manipulating a phone while driving (Goodwin, O’Brien, & Foss, 2012), a reduction of motor vehicle crashes at all (Ehsani, Bingham, Ionides, & Childers, 2014), or a long-term reduction of motor vehicle crashes (Abouk & Adams, 2013). Educational campaigns, such as U Drive.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Behavioral Economic Analysis of Demand for Texting while Driving

et al. 2019

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The overarching goal of the present study was to determine whether a behavioral economic framework of demand analysis is applicable to texting while driving. To this end, we developed a novel hypothetical task designed to quantify the intensity and elasticity of the demand for social interaction from texting while driving. This task involved a scenario in which participants receive a text message while driving, and they rated the likelihood of replying to a text message immediately versus waiting to reply until arriving at a destination when the amounts of a fine for texting while driving ranged from $1 to $300. To assess the construct validity of the task, the scenario presented two delays to a destination (15 min and 60 min). The demand for social interaction from texting was more intense (greater at the lowest amount of the fine) and less elastic (less sensitive to the increase in the amounts of the fine) for drivers who self-reported a higher frequency of texting while driving than for those who self-reported a lower frequency of texting while driving. Demand was also more intense and less elastic under the 60-min delay condition than under the 15-min condition. The results of this proof-of-concept study suggest that behavioral economic demand analyses are potentially useful for understanding and predicting texting while driving.

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Impact of Texting Laws on Motor Vehicular Fatalities in the United States

Cited by 38 publications

References 30 publications

Adolescent Cellphone Use While Driving: An Overview of the Literature and Promising Future Directions for Prevention

Adolescent Cellphone Use While Driving: An Overview of the Literature and Promising Future Directions for Prevention

“I wasn't texting; I was just reading an email …”: a qualitative study of distracted driving enforcement in Washington State

A Behavioral Economic Analysis of Demand for Texting while Driving

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