Cell Phone Ban hasn't made us safer

A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that the cell phone ban in DC has done nothing to reduce crashes.

Using actual crash statistics, it shows there was no significant difference in the number of accidents in the District, California or New York in the months before and after hands-free laws went into effect.

"Our concern with hand-held bans has been that these laws are encouraging drivers to go hands-free, which is just as risky," said Jonathan Adkins of the Governors Highway Safety Association. "We need more research and data to determine whether or not hand-held bans should be implemented across the country." 

Adkins said his group continues to urge states to pass texting bans but to hold off on addressing other cellphone use "until some clarity is achieved."

That talking on the cell phone while driving is dangerous is pretty well established.

The nonprofit National Safety Council, which blames 1.4 million crashes annually on cellphone use, called last year for a ban on cellphone use while driving.

The step to take next is not to stop the process of banning distracted driving, but to expand what qualifies as distracted driving to include hands-free phones. It's like we only banned drinking beer and driving, but it's been OK to drink wine or liquor and drive.

"Laws by themselves are not magic bullets," Adkins said. "The laws must be complemented with strong educational programs, enforcement, employer bans and technological advances."

The District has made an effort to enforce the hand-held ban, issuing 7,519 warnings and 12,936 tickets in 2008.

WTOP has the caveat to the study

The research does have some limitations. It looks at all collision claims and does not identify whether drivers were using cell phones when their crashes occurred.

However, prior estimates of the effects of cell phone use on crash risk were so large, and reductions in observed hand-held cellphone use following the laws were so substantial, that reductions even in aggregate crashes would be expected after enactment of hand-held cell phone laws.

So they did see a drop in hand held use because of the law, but I suspect that much of that was replaced by hands-free devices, thus, no drop in accidents.

Comments

[Michael]

I think some studies have shown that it's the process of engaging in conversations that distracts the driver, not holding the phone. Thus, it's reasonable to expect that only banning hand-held phones would not affect the accident rate that much.

In addition to that, I'm not so sure that people are always following the law. I continue to see drivers using hand-held cell phones while behind the wheel. I'm doubtful whether the percentage of drivers who are using hand-held cell phones has really dropped that much. I don't know how one would verify this because a survey that relied on self-reporting by drivers would be unreliable.

It's better to have the law than not to have the law but I agree that more needs to be done with driver education and changing the culture. Enforcement is difficult until the driver actually gets in a crash and is discovered holding a cell phone.

[washcycle]

It's definitely talking on the phone that is the problem (not the hand holding of it). You're brain has to focus in a different way when the person isn't there with you. I also agree that there is a lot of non-compliance, but according to observations they did, there was a reduction in drivers who were driving while holding cell phones after the law passes.

[Joel]

"The step to take next is not to stop the process of banning distracted driving, but to expand what qualifies as distracted driving to include hands-free phones"

I disagree. As with all of these bans, they require a cop to see what's going on and decide it's worth his/her time to chase the person down. The thing to do is increase the penalties (jail time/fine) for ANY crash, regardless of cause, to the point that there's no choice but to slow down and pay attention. Going at it piecemeal will take forever and there will always be things (e.g., sneezing) that will not be "ban-able".

[washcycle]

Sure, there is room for improvement on the enforcement end, but we know that some people will stop using cell phones when they drive if it becomes illegal, and there is a lot of political momentum to change the law, whereas a significant increase in penalties for negligent driving is going to be hard to secure (not that I'm against it mind you).

[Jack]

I want to know what the effect of cell phone bans is on the number of bike and pedestrian crashes. Many drivers don't expect to see bicyclists and pedestrians. It's one thing to be on the phone when everything's predictable. You just have to stay in your lane and watch out for cars braking in front of you, right? Auto-pilot works fine then. But when you encounter a slow moving bicyclist or a pedestrian in the crosswalk (or not in a crosswalk) auto-pilot doesn't work. You have to be alert. You also may have less margin for error.