Effects on Rates of Hand-held Cellphone Conversations
There is evidence that all-driver bans on hand-held phone conversations can have large and lasting effects on drivers’ behaviors. The percentage of drivers talking on hand-held phones was measured before and after bans took effect in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, and New York and in control jurisdictions without bans [McCartt, Hellinga, and Strouse, et al., 2010]. Driver hand-held phone use was estimated to be 24–76% lower up to 7 years after the bans were implemented than would have been expected without the bans. The authors reported that in all three jurisdictions, the chance that violators would receive citations was low, and there were no publicized sustained enforcement campaigns.
In a 2009 national telephone survey, 56% of drivers in states with all-driver hand-held phone bans reported using any type of phone when driving compared with 69% in states without such laws [Braitman, McCartt, 2010]. The proportion of drivers who talked on phones and always talk hands-free was 22% in states with bans and 13% in states without bans.
High-visibility enforcement has been shown to increase compliance with traffic laws [Dinh-Zarr et al., 2001;Wells et al., 1992]. After programs of publicized high-intensity enforcement of all-driver hand-held phone and texting bans were implemented, the rate of observed hand-held phone conversations declined by 57% in Hartford, Conn., a significant change, while rates did not change significantly in a control community [Cosgrove, Chaudhary, Reagan, 2011]. Rates declined by 32% in Syracuse, N.Y., and by 40% in a control community; both changes were significant. A recent survey of state highway safety offices found that states increasingly are conducting heightened enforcement of cellphone and texting bans [Governor’s Highway Safety Association, 2013]. States also reported that police officers are challenged by bans applying only to teenage drivers; secondary enforcement laws that require police to have some other reason to stop a vehicle before citing the driver for violating the cellphone law; and the difficulty of discerning whether a motorist is engaged in an illegal behavior such as texting as compared with a behavior that is permitted such as dialing a phone.
Patrick Abboud
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