Short-term impacts of all-driver handheld cellphone bans on high-schoolers' texting while driving: quasi-experimental analyses of Illinois and Georgia.
Marco H Benedetti, David C Schwebel, Bo Lu, Toni M Rudisill, Gary A Smith, Motao Zhu
Author Information
Marco H Benedetti: The Center for Injury Research and Policy, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205, USA.
David C Schwebel: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 415 Campbell Hall, 701 20th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA.
Bo Lu: Division of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 250 Cunz Hall, 1841 Neil Ave, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Toni M Rudisill: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, West Virginia University, 64 Medical Center Drive, PO Box 9190, Morgantown, WV 26595, USA.
Gary A Smith: The Center for Injury Research and Policy, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205, USA; Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, 370 W. 9(th) Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Division of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 250 Cunz Hall, 1841 Neil Ave, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Motao Zhu: The Center for Injury Research and Policy, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205, USA; Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, 370 W. 9(th) Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Division of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 250 Cunz Hall, 1841 Neil Ave, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: Motao.Zhu@NationwideChildrens.org.
Teen drivers are more likely than their older counterparts to engage in distracted driving. Many states prohibit cellphone use for teen drivers, but only prohibit texting for all drivers. Evidence that these laws have been effective is mixed. We hypothesize that recent policy changes in Georgia and Illinois from teen cellphone bans with all-driver texting bans to all-driver handheld phone bans yielded short-term reductions in teen texting while driving. We analyzed Youth Risk Behavior Surveys in Georgia, Illinois, and control states North Carolina and Michigan. We estimated the reduction in texting while driving associated with policy changes via difference-in-differences models. In Illinois, 45.4 % of high school drivers texted while driving in 2013. After a 2014 policy change to an all-driver handheld ban, the percentage decreased in 2015 to 41.8 %, and decreased further in 2017 to 37.7 %. The adjusted DID estimate comparing Illinois to Michigan from 2013 to 2017 was -8.3 % (95 % CI: -15.5 % 1.1 %; p-value = 0.025). In Georgia, the percentage decreased from 37.5 % before the law to 30.8 % after, and the adjusted DID estimate comparing Georgia to North Carolina was -10.8 % (95 % CI: -19.0 %, -2.5 %; p-value = 0.011) than in North Carolina. Results support all-driver handheld phone bans to improve traffic safety for high school drivers.
