Study Shows That Banning Texting and Driving Drops Car Crash ER Visits

by | Apr 29, 2019 | Personal Injury

Banning Texting and Driving Reduces ER Visits

A new study has found that the states that chose to ban texting and driving were associated with a drop in car accident emergency room visits. Researchers looked at emergency department data gathered from 16 different US states across 2007 through 2014. The states were selected based on whether or not details were available regarding motor vehicle accident injuries and whether or not emergency department treatment was needed.

A state that implemented a ban on texting and driving on average saw a 4% drop in emergency department visits following motor vehicle crashes. That was equal to 1632 vehicle accident-related ER visits every single year.

Restrictions Of Texting And Driving

Currently, in the United States, 47 out of 50 states have laws restricting texting behind the wheel. Every state, except for one included in the study, had one of those laws. Texting while driving bans can come in two different forms. These are known as primary or secondary laws. A primary law means that a driver can be pulled over for texting regardless of whether or not the officers saw another traffic violation occurring.

A secondary law occurs only when a person has been caught texting and driving because of another violation such as running a red light or speeding. The results of the study were recently published in the American Journal of Public Health and the states that implemented primary bans saw as much as an 8% reduction in crash-related injuries.

Older Drivers

Even drivers above aged 65 experienced reductions in the number of injuries following vehicle accidents when there were bans for texting and driving in place. In total, distracted driving contributed to the loss of life for 3,500 people in 2016 and injuries for a further 391,000. If you are curious about how best to protect yourself following a serious vehicle accident you think was caused by distracted driving, you need to hire dedicated injury lawyers today.

Sadly, even though the research about distracted driving has made broad waves and informed many people of the risks, this dangerous behavior can be seen throughout the world today.