Effectiveness of cell phone restrictions for young drivers,review of the evidence

This research summarized the effect of cell phone restrictions on the prevalence of cell phone use and motor vehicle crashes involving young drivers. Multiple databases were searched with the use of terms related to cell phone restrictions, the prevalence of cell phone use, crashes, and young drivers. Fifty-three abstracts were reviewed. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Six studies examined changes in the prevalence of cell phone use before and after a restriction was imposed; five studies used changes in crash rates as the outcome. The majority of prevalence studies found no change in young drivers’ cell phone use following the introduction of a restriction. Crash studies using multistate samples reported significant reductions in fatal crashes; single-state studies reported no change or small increases in crashes. Restrictions appeared to have no long-term effect on the prevalence of cell phone use among novice drivers. Conflicting findings from crash studies reflected differences in analytica...