Study: Texting bans don’t lower crash rates
October 5, 2010 by Fred HosierPosted in: cell phones and safety, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, What do you think?
PDF A study by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) shows bans on texting while driving may not be having the desired effect. In fact, crash rates may actually be increasing in some states that have enacted them.
This is the second HLDI study to show cell phone bans aren’t working. Earlier this year, another HLDI study concluded that laws banning hand-held cell phone use while driving actually increased crash rates.
Why aren’t the bans working? Adrian Lund, president of HLDI, says, “They’re focusing on a single manifestation of distracted driving and banning it. This ignores the endless sources of distraction and relies on banning one source or another to solve the whole problem.”
Here’s another point: HLDI didn’t have a whole lot of statistics to look at. It measured four states that have had texting bans since 2008. A total of 30 states now have the bans, so as website Ars Technica points out, this study doesn’t include information for 26 of them.
Another theory: Americans are already too attached to their cell phones and texting to obey laws that ban them while driving.
Jared Newman of PC World writes, “America has a culture of distracted driving, and that’s not going to change because of a law against texting.”
Newman thinks the answer lies not in laws but in technology. More hands-free, voice-activated technology could keep more hands on the steering wheel instead of on the cell phone.
What do you think the answer is: Bans, technology, something else? Let us know in the Comments Box below.
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Tags: cell phone bans, Highway Loss Data Institute, texting bans
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October 5th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
It’s silly. It’s just flavor-of-the-month, “We’re smarter than you; we’ll take care of you” nonsense.
October 6th, 2010 at 6:38 am
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October 12th, 2010 at 10:22 am
There are to many idiots out there that don’t know how to drive as it is. Putting a cell phone in their hand is just asking for more accidents. There should be a major fine associated with texting while driving. Maybe by paying a healthy fine these folks will realize that it just isn’t worth texting while driving.
October 12th, 2010 at 10:33 am
As the article states, people are going to be distracted! We have the technology to correct/prevent a major portion of accidents if companies are willing to put it in the cars. And this includes monitoring where the driver is looking. With Heads-up technology there would never be an excuse not to be looking through the windshield except when checking side mirrors. This may be construed as wishful thinking as there will always be exceptions but good technology is built for worse case situations.
Another factor is the amount of time spent in our vehicles as getting affordable housing moves further from work. This isn’t our grandfathers time when we stayed at the same company for most of our lives and lived within a few miles.
October 13th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Hands on the wheel wont prevent accidents. Mind on the road will. Doesnt matter how many hands you have on the wheel if your are not paying attention to the road and vehicles around you. I feel that everything needs to be banned when driving. No eating, drinking, smoking, putting on makeup, reading, talking on cell phones! Until this happens we are doomed to the fatality rate we currently are accepting.
October 13th, 2010 at 9:16 am
After studying some of the research on this issue, I am pretty sure that our laws have not caught up with the reality of what is taking place.
One of the studies I saw showed that driving is a “left-brain activity” while phone conversation (hand free or hand-held, didn’t matter) is a right brain activity. Sometimes the new terminology coming out of such areas explains it best; one of the terms is “cognitive blindness”- the studies on “distracted driver” actually shows that when a driver is having a conversation with someone who is NOT a passenger, they are more than distracted- the mental energy required to articulate and carry on a thoughtful conversation actually moves a driver’s awareness away from the left-brain where critical driving activities are processed, and into right brain.
Drivers on cell phones have been witnessed plowing into vehicles at stop lights, etc. that they “did not see”… even though their eyes were open and facing windshield.
The science behind “distracted drivers” is new and still emerging, but one thing is for sure, the research is pointing towards “cognitive blindness” as a reality.
One of the “hats” I wear at my company (about 100 employees and lots of driving) is safety officer. I brought this information out this Spring. I am a strong believer that safety begins with understanding of the issues. If your workforce and loved ones simply understand what happens cognitively while on the phone, I think it will go a long way towards responsible driving.
In summary: teach your people about cognitive blindness and some of the research behind the term “distracted driver.” I believe that simple awareness of this issue will prevent a lot of accidents.
October 13th, 2010 at 9:19 am
Car manufacturers need to get involved as well. Instead of modifying the phone why not add a device in the vehicle that blocks the signal. No signal NO phone, then the laws will be abided and folks will be safe. Win Win on both sides. Folks forget what life was like prior to cell phones, NOTHING is in need of INSTANT answers.
October 13th, 2010 at 10:37 am
In my experience, banning things doesn’t often work. People are going to do what they want to do. There is going to have to be a technological fix to this problem because you can’t rely on people to not subject themselves to obvious driving distractions such as texting.
October 26th, 2010 at 8:52 am
There are behaviors other than texting or talking on a cell phone that can and probably do cause accidents. How many of these behaviors have you seen in other drivers - reading the newspaper, a magazine or a map, eating a bowl of cereal, eating fast food (burger, fries, etc.), applying make-up, combing hair, shaving, brushing teeth, knotting a tie. I have. I stay away from these people when I spot them.
May 3rd, 2011 at 9:35 am
Mr. Newman thinks the answer lies in technology. Technology has resulted in our being less engaged and focused on the complex task of driving, not more so. A 2010 NSC white paper offers an excellent analysis of the problem. The research (results of 30 studies from 1995-2008) overwhelmingly showed that cognitive distractions or “inattention blindness” while using HANDS-FREE devices increases vehicular accidents (counter-intuitive, I know). And that’s the problem.
Hands-free devices give the illusion of safety since, while it addresses manual and visual distractions obvious to the driver, it fails to account for cognitive distractions (i.e. “mind off driving”). Hands-free devices are more deadly than hand-held ones because, unlike manual and visual distractions, drivers cannot “see” and are unaware when they are cognitively distracted. And since their hands are on the wheel and eyes are on the road, they feel safe… and talk much longer exposing themselves to risk for minutes and even hours rather than seconds or minutes when texting or talking on hand-held devices.
Until technology permits us to be totally disengaged from the act of driving and chauffeur us from point A to point B without the risk of collision (trolley car?), then technology can only offer more distractions, more collisions and regrettably, more shattered lives.
June 10th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
The problem is not technology or talking on the cell…The problem is that the Driver is talking on the cell to a person located somewhere else..EXAMPLE—.If one person in that conversation is driving a vehicle while the other person is at home or in a “NON-DRIVING ENVIRONMENT” …then the environmental demands are VERY DIFFERENT..
…The DRIVER has to REACT/RESPOND to the ACTIONS OF OTHER DRIVERS SHARING THE ROAD WITH HIM AND STILL TRY TO CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION with the person on the other end who IS NOT DRIVING AND DOES NOT SEE WHAT THE DRIVER IS SEEING AND THEREFORE HAS NO REASON TO STOP TALKING….or REACT!!! Two different environments that CREATE AN UNUSUAL DYNAMIC…
THis why a driver can more easily eat a hamburger or drink coffee or smoke cigs while driving and be less distracted..These don’t require another person!!
Two people, a driver & passenger are operating in the same environment and the dynamic is equal…BOTH DRIVER & PASSENGER WILL REACT TO THE SAME WAY BECAUSE THEY ARE SEEING THE SAME EVENT ON THE ROAD AT THE SAME TIME..
SO-HANDSFREE DEVICES OR OTHER EQUIPMENT WILL NOT HAVE THAT GREAT OF IMPACT ON CELL PHONE DISTRACTED DRVING…
TEXTING WHILE DRIVING IS JUST DUM!!!
June 14th, 2011 at 11:42 am
“Earlier this year, another HLDI study concluded that laws banning hand-held cell phone use while driving actually increased crash rates.” False conclusion! This assumes:
(1) The increased crash rate is because of the ban on use of hand-held cell phones. There could be a bunch of other reasons, such as people speeding.
(2) Drivers actually obey the law. I still see a lot of people yakking and texting despite the laws against it.