Texting bans don't reduce crashes, study shows

SALT LAKE CITY — New research contends the bans on texting while driving do not improve safety on the roads, but Utah officials don't foresee any changes in Utah's ban.

Currently, 30 states and the District of Columbia outlaw texting behind the wheel. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety and its sister organization, the Highway Loss Data Institute, looked at four states: California, Louisiana, Minnesota and Washington.

"Texting bans haven't reduced crashes at all. In a perverse twist, crashes increased in three of the four states we studied after bans were enacted. It's an indication that texting bans might even increase the risk of texting for drivers who continue to do so despite the laws," said Adrian Lund, president of both Highway Loss Data Institute and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

He said while crashes weren't reduced because of the texting bans, it doesn't mean it's safe to text and drive.

"There's a crash risk associated with doing this," Lund said. "It's just that bans aren't reducing this crash risk."

The institute also found noncompliance is a likely reason texting bans aren't reducing crashes. It said survey results indicate that many drivers, especially younger ones, shrug off these bans.

And in the case of younger drivers, the crashes involving texters jumped. In all four study states, the institute found crashes increased among drivers younger than 25 after the bans for all drivers took effect.

UHP: A long way to go

According the data from the Utah Department of Public Safety, 15 people died in 2009 from distracted-driving accidents, which represented 6 percent of all traffic fatalities. Five of those deaths involved cell phone use — three were texting, and two were talking on the phone.

In 2008, there were 18 deaths from distracted driving, which represented 7 percent of all traffic fatalities. Four of those involved people talking on cell phones.

"I believe people are being responsible, but we still have a long way to go in educating people on the importance of not texting and driving and, for that matter, just not using cell phones or electronic devices while they're driving," trooper Todd Johnson said.

Researchers with the Highway Loss Data Institute believe drivers are simply lowering their phones to avoid police attention, which increases the distraction from the road.