A new study conducted by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) shows that there has been no reduction in car accidents since the ban of hand held devices across the United States. The study included comparing insurance claims for crash damage in 4 US jurisdictions before and after the bans and found that the claims were the same as claim rates in nearby jurisdictions without the bans. Month-to-month claim rates in places with the bans did not change from before the laws were in place and the claim rates didn’t change in places without the bans.
These laws don’t seem to be reducing car crashes even though cell phone use while driving has decreased and studies showed that the use of cell phones while driving did increase the risk for accidents. “Whatever the reason, the key finding is that crashes aren’t going down where hand-held phone use has been banned,” Adrian Lund, president of both the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and HLDI points out. “This finding doesn’t auger well for any safety payoff from all the new laws that ban phone use and texting while driving.” The new studies are not matching with the data from the older studies regarding the use of cell phones while driving. There has to be some sort of factor that is present in both cases of using cell phones and hands-free. One thought is that drivers are switching from using their cell to hands-free since there is no state that completely bans the use of cell phones and the risks are the same whether you physically are holding your phone or not.
