The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety sent out an interesting press release this morning: According to data collected by the Highway Loss Data Institute, bans on texting while driving don't reduce crashes -- and in fact, the numbers show that crashes actually go up slightly after such bans are implemented. According to the HLDI:
"Month-to-month fluctuations in the rates of collision claims in HLDI's four study states (Editor's note: California, Louisiana, Minnesota and Washington) with texting bans for all drivers didn't change much from before to after the bans were enacted. Nor did the patterns differ much from those in nearby states that didn't ban texting for all drivers during the study period. To the extent that the crash patterns did change in the study states, they went up, not down, after the bans took effect. Increases varied from 1 percent more crashes in Washington to about 9 percent more in Minnesota (the result in Washington isn't statistically significant)."Though the numbers support several theories, no one associated with the study is arguing that the dangers of texting while driving are overstated. Instead, noncompliance with the bans -- prevalent among younger drivers, according to the HLDI -- would support such findings. The study also suggests that lawmakers, while likely taking steps in the right direction when enacting such bans, cannot think that coming down harshly on one aspect of distracted driving (in this case, texting) will be the panacea that solves all aspects of the greater problem. You can read the full release from the IIHS, including more detailed statistics.
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