“Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” Campaign Shows Reduction in Distracted Driving

The results are in from two Department of Transportation (DOT) enforcement programs launched in Hartford, Connecticut and Syracuse, New York, and they look promising. Over four periods of stepped-up enforcement, police issued more than 900,000 citations to drivers for using their cell phones while driving.

The “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” campaign is modeled after the “Click it or Ticket” seatbelt campaign launched to compel drivers to use seatbelts. That campaign garnered a huge response from drivers, leading to an 85 percent usage rate of seat belts in 2010, an all-time high in the United States.

Police in Hartford and Syracuse say that they have seen a substantial change in drivers’ behavior. In Syracuse, drivers using hand-held cell phones decreased by 32 percent. In Hartford, hand-held cell phone use in cars was down 57 percent, while texting while driving was down 72 percent. These numbers are encouraging for the 34 states and the District of Columbia, which have enacted texting bans for all drivers in the past few years.

“The key is going to be consistent and focused, dedicated enforcement,” says Captain Shannon Trice of the Syracuse Police Department. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood agrees, saying “[t]hese findings show that strong laws, combined with highly visible police enforcement, can significantly reduce dangerous texting and cell phone use behind the wheel.”

But not everyone is on board with the idea that bans on hand-held cell phone use can reduce the number of distracted-driving related accidents. Police officers across the country have argued against such bans, saying they would be difficult to enforce. More recently, the Governors’ Highway Safety Association (GHSA) advised the 41 states that have yet to enact hand-held cell phone bans not to adopt such laws until more data is released.

Hopefully, studies like this one will continue to convince drivers, legislators, and law enforcement officers alike that hand-held cell phone bans do work and will reduce the number of deaths on our nation’s highways.