Orange County, CA - March 27th, 2019 - Currently, 47 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands ban texting while driving for all drivers. In 2007, Washington became the first state to pass the texting ban. Texting-while-driving bans are either primary laws or secondary laws. Primary laws mean that drivers can be pulled over for texting regardless of whether another traffic violation took place. Secondary laws sanction drivers for texting, only after another violation like speeding or running a stop sign took place. Few states implement the bans on all drivers, while others sanction only new drivers.
According to new research, states that have the texting ban saw an average 4 percent reduction in emergency room visits after motor vehicle crashes; which is equivalent to 1,632 traffic-related emergency department visits each year. The states that enforce the primary bans saw an 8% reduction in crash-related injuries.
Researchers analyzed emergency department information across 16 US states between 2007 and 2014. The states were picked based on the availability of data regarding motor vehicle accident injuries for which emergency department treatment was needed. Of the 16 states researchers looked at in the study, all states except Arizona had one of these laws. All drivers regardless of age saw reduced numbers of injuries after vehicle crashes.
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are roughly 3,500 fatalities, and 391,000 injuries related to distracted driving, which includes texting. Prior studies lacked information on the benefit for the laws sanctioning drivers for texting, only after another violation has happened. However, the research only analyzed whether there is a reduced number of deaths. The authors stress that injuries are more likely to take place, thus more important.
The study did not measure how well laws are enforced in different states and, did not include all 50 states. Ferdinand is certain the same results are exact around the country.
