IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ecinqu/v53y2015i3p1420-1436.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Cell Phone Bans Change Driver Behavior?

Author

Listed:
  • Cheng Cheng

Abstract

In response to concerns that distracted driving due to cell phone use has become a threat to roadway safety, many states have passed laws that prohibit drivers from texting and talking on handheld cell phones. In light of recent evidence that these bans do not reduce traffic accidents, this article asks whether this is because the laws are ineffective in reducing usage. Using data on observed driver cell phone usage combined with a difference-in-differences approach that exploits the within-state variation in the adoption of bans, I find that prohibiting drivers from texting and talking on handheld cell phones reduces each by 60% and 50%, respectively. This suggests the policy is effective at reducing the targeted behavior, which leads me to discuss other factors and behavioral responses that may counteract the reduction in observed usage ( JEL K32, D04, R41).

Suggested Citation

  • Cheng Cheng, 2015. "Do Cell Phone Bans Change Driver Behavior?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(3), pages 1420-1436, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:53:y:2015:i:3:p:1420-1436
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecin.12166
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Erik Nesson & Vinish Shrestha, 2021. "The effects of false identification laws on underage alcohol‐related traffic fatalities," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(9), pages 2264-2283, September.
    2. Silvia Bruzzone & Stefano Castriota & Mirco Tonin, 2021. "Points Or Prison? The Effects Of Different Sanctions On Driving Behavior," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 126-140, January.
    3. French, Michael T. & Gumus, Gulcin, 2018. "Watch for motorcycles! The effects of texting and handheld bans on motorcyclist fatalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 81-87.
    4. Abay, Kibrom A. & Kahsay, Goytom Abraha, 2018. "Long-term effects of alternative deterrence policies: Panel data evidence from traffic punishments in Denmark," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1-19.
    5. Adrian Chadi & Mario Mechtel & Vanessa Mertins, 2022. "Smartphone bans and workplace performance," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(1), pages 287-317, February.
    6. Erik Nesson & Vinish Shrestha, 2016. "The Effects of False Identification Laws with a Scanner Provision on Underage Alcohol-Related Traffic Fatalities," Working Papers 2016-17, Towson University, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2020.
    7. Jørgensen, Finn & Hanssen, Thor-Erik Sandberg, 2019. "Implications for traffic safety from car drivers’ secondary task engagement – An economist's view," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law
    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:53:y:2015:i:3:p:1420-1436. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/weaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.