Bans on hand-held phone conversations while driving are widespread in other countries and are becoming more common in the U.S. In 2001, New York became the first state to ban hand-held phone conversations by all drivers. Now 21 states and the District of Columbia have similar laws.
Texting is banned for all drivers in 48 states and the District of Columbia.
Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia restrict cellphone use by young drivers.
Cellphone use laws by state in detail
IIHS has found that all-driver bans on hand-held phone conversations can have large and lasting effects on phone use (McCartt et al., 2010; Braitman & McCartt, 2010).
Phone bans specifically targeting young drivers seem to have less effect (Foss et al., 2009; Goodwin et al., 2012).
There is scant information on drivers' compliance with texting bans. A 2009 IIHS survey of drivers found that among 18-24 year-olds, 45 percent reported texting while driving in states that bar the practice, just shy of the 48 percent of drivers who reported texting in states without bans (Braitman & McCartt, 2010). Among drivers ages 25-29, 40 percent reported texting in states with bans, compared with 55 percent in states without bans.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has conducted high-visibility enforcement campaigns in Hartford, Conn., Syracuse, N.Y., the Sacramento Valley Region in California, and in the state of Delaware as a way to increase compliance with cellphone and texting bans. After programs of publicized, high-intensity enforcement of hand-held cellphone and texting bans were implemented, the number of drivers observed holding a phone to their ear declined (Cosgrove et al., 2011; Schick et al., 2014). Observed manipulation of hand-held phones (e.g., dialing, texting) decreased significantly in Syracuse, N.Y., and Hartford, Conn., following the enforcement initiative and did not decrease in the comparison communities.
It's not clear whether banning hand-held phone use or texting reduces crashes. A 2009 analysis by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) found that hand-held bans had no effect on insurance collision claim rates (Trempel et al., 2011). Researchers compared rates of claims for crash damage in three states and the District of Columbia before and after hand-held phone use bans went into effect and found no significant change in claim rates for two jurisdictions relative to comparison states and small, but significant, increases in claim rates in the other two.
A 2010 HLDI study examined rates of insurance collision claims before and after driver texting bans were enacted in four states (HLDI, 2010). There was no significant change in one state relative to comparison states and significant increases of 7-9 percent in three states. Increases in claim rates also were found for drivers 25 and younger in these three states.
IIHS reviewed 11 studies of the effects of all-driver hand-held phone bans and texting bans on crashes, including the two HLDI studies (McCartt et al., 2014). The results were mixed, so it's not clear if laws limiting drivers' cellphone use are having beneficial effects on crashes.
Bans may not have a beneficial effect on crashes even with strong enforcement. An analysis comparing insurance collision claims in counties with high-visibility enforcement of phone and texting bans and counties without it didn't find a corresponding reduction in crashes reported to insurers (HLDI, 2013).