Mobile-using motorist
Teen drivers' cellphone use actually increased after the legislation

US teens ignore mobile phone driving ban

Recent legislation has opposite effect

Clement James

A ban on teenagers in North Carolina using mobile phones while driving appears to have backfired, a study found this week.

Incidences of teenagers driving while on the phone actually increased after the state ban was enacted.

Advertisement

Two months prior to the ban in December 2006, 11 per cent of teen drivers were observed using cellphones as they left school in the afternoon. About five months after the ban took effect, this had risen to 12 per cent.

Most drivers were using handheld phones. Nine per cent were holding the handsets to their ears, while fewer than one per cent were using hands-free devices. About two per cent were observed dialling or texting.

Cellphone use remained steady at about 13 per cent at comparison sites in South Carolina, where teen driver cellphone use is not restricted.

While young drivers and their parents strongly support the restrictions, they believe that the ban is not being enforced.

Cellphone bans for teen drivers are difficult to enforce

Anne McCartt nsurance Institute for Highway Safety

"Most young drivers comply with graduated licensing restrictions, such as limits on night time driving and passengers, even when enforcement is low," said Anne McCartt, senior vice president of research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

"The hope in North Carolina was that the same would hold true for cellphone use, but this was not the case. Teen drivers' cellphone use actually increased a little.

"Parents play a big role in compliance with graduated licensing rules. Limiting phone use may be tougher for them since many want their teens to carry phones."

Most parents and teen drivers agreed that police officers were not looking for cellphone violators. Some 70 per cent of teens and 60 per cent of parents indicated that enforcement was 'rare' or 'nonexistent'.

Only 22 per cent of teenagers and 13 per cent of parents surveyed believed that the law was being enforced 'fairly often' or 'a lot'.

"Cellphone bans for teen drivers are difficult to enforce," added McCartt. " Drivers with phones to their ears are not hard to spot, but it is nearly impossible for police officers to see hands-free devices or correctly guess how old drivers are."

  • Have your say
  • Send to a friend
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Share

Do you agree?

Further reading

EU flags

EU gets to grips with telecoms reform

Commission pushes to make reforms a reality by 2009

Social network

Future workers will demand IM and Facebook

Social networks, instant messaging and remote working to drive staff retention

Alton Towers 'bans' PDAs and smartphones

Parents urged to 'disconnect' from the office

High-tech gadgets keep tabs on exam cheats

'Microtext' to watermark test papers

Related whitepapers

Related jobs

Most watched

iPhone

Video Review: iPhone 3GS

We put Apple's latest iPhone through its paces

V3.co.uk weekly debrief, 5 Feb 2010

This week we cover the continuing controversy surrounding the Orange T-Mobile deal

Analysis and Reports

Using managed services to protect mobile data users from the latest security threats

Counting the cost of data security: the benefits of secured mobile services

Shifting Disaster Recovery targets with SharePoint and SQL server configurations

Using a hostbased recovery system for mission-critical systems

Poll

Adobe Flash poll

Adobe Flash poll

Do you agree with Steve Jobs about Flash being buggy?

View poll results

Advertisement

White paper library

Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies; IThound.com brings you over 6,000 white papers, case studies and analyst reports.

Advertisement

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Enter email address to edit your newsletter preferences

Job of the week

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Hiring now on ComputingCareers:

Related IT jobs

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Advertisement

Spotlight

Windows 7

Microsoft denies Windows 7 battery problems

Replacement warning functioning normally, claims software giant

Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day highlights online threats

Annual initiative warns of phishing, ID theft and social network...

AMD Fusion

AMD details Fusion innovations at ISSCC

Forthcoming chip with four CPU and one GPU cores will...

MSI Wind U135

Review: MSI Wind U135 netbook

A decent netbook incorporating the latest Intel technology in a...

Primary Navigation