This study examined the impact of state texting bans on motor vehicle crash-related emergency department visits. Crash data was collected between 2007 to 2014 from 16 states from State Emergency Department Databases. The states included were Arizona, Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
On average, there were a total of 3,400 motor vehicle crash-related emergency department visits each month, the majority (30.7%) of which were among drivers aged 22 to 33 years. Findings revealed that states with a primary texting ban on all drivers had an 8% reduction and states with a secondary ban on novice drivers only saw a 40% reduction in motor vehicle crash-related emergency department visits.
Further results indicate that states with a texting ban had a 4% reduction in motor vehicle crash-related emergency department visits, which is an average of 1,632 traffic-related emergency department visits prevented per year in states with a texting ban. Both primary and secondary bans were associated with significant reductions in motor vehicle crash-related emergency department visits regardless of whether they were on all drivers or young drivers only.
Reference
Ferdinand, A. O., Aftab, A., & Akinlotan, M. A. (2019). Texting-While-Driving Bans and Motor Vehicle Crash–Related Emergency Department Visits in 16 US States: 2007–2014. American journal of public health, (0), e1-e7.
