“As state legislators across the United States enact laws that ban phoning and texting while driving, a new study is showing no reductions in crashes after hand-held phone bans take effect. Comparing insurance claims for crash damage in 4 US jurisdictions before and after such bans, The Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) researchers find claim rates are comparable with nearby jurisdictions without such bans. ‘The laws aren’t reducing crashes, even though we know that such laws have reduced hand-held phone use, and several studies have established that phoning while driving increases crash risk,’ says Adrian Lund, president of HLDI.”It could be that a lot of people like me regularly ignore the law and talk on our cellphones while driving anyway, thus the law isn't really changing anyone's behavior.
These nanny laws rarely have the impact promised by the lawmakers. Just passing a law isn't enough to change the behavior of people.
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2 comments:
I suspect the people most addicted to cell phone use, either voice or texting, mostly ignore the laws on cell phone use. If fines were large, perhaps more would rethink using phones while driving.
If this law is to really do any good I would think that the Fines should be increased to where a person would NOT want to be apprehended. I would also suggest that when a person is apprehended for violatinig this law that their vehicle also be impounded for a set period of time. If the penalty was severe enough I believe people would obey the law.
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