How Effective Will Banning Phones from Cars Be?
New driver cell phone bans went into effect on July 1 in Washington and California. These states joined New York, Utah, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. in banning the use of cell phones while driving. In California, if a cop catches any driver holding up a cell phone, he can write the driver a $100 ticket. In Washington, the driver must also be committing some other offense to warrant the $124 ticket. These bans are well-intentioned, without question, but are they effective? In this post, we’ll address the reasoning behind such bans and discuss their efficacy.
A Deterrent for Drivers?
Some experts argue that a lack of enforcement of such cell phone bans makes them basically worthless. Police officers are too busy to enforce them, for one, and they might not be inclined to make the effort to pull someone over for such a trivial offense. A study in North Carolina that watched teen drivers as they left school in the afternoon found that, prior to a driver cell phone ban, 11% were seen using a phone. After a ban went into effect, 12% were seen using a phone. The study is cited as proof that such bans do not serve as a deterrent for cell-phone usage by drivers.
Why All the Fuss?
Lawmakers have their hearts in the right place, even if the bans end up a little misguided. Drivers using a cell phone, regardless of whether it is handheld or hands-free, are as dangerous as drunks according to new studies. Drivers who text message while driving have reaction times slowed by 35%–certainly enough to cause an accident. Psychologists contend that what is so dangerous about cell-phone use is not that the driver doesn’t have both hands on the wheel, but that he or she is distracted. Our attentional resources can only go so far. As one psychologist from Johns Hopkins put it, as we turn our listening knobs up, our visual knobs get turned down. In other words, we are so focused on the conversation that we pay less attention to the road. This can be especially dangerous when we are involved in complex or emotionally intense cell-phone conversations.
What the Cell Phone Companies Have to Say
So what do the wireless carriers have to say about all this? Where handheld devices have been banned, they have sent out promotional emails and text messages to try to push hands-free devices. In places like Lawrence, Kansas, where government officials are considering banning both handheld and hands-free devices, the wireless companies are not happy. Being unable to talk in the car means fewer minutes used and less revenue from the sales of hands-free devices. In their defense, the cell phone companies make a good argument that if hands-free devices are to be banned, so should all driver distractions, including radios and eating.