# Cellphone Laws, Texting While Driving, and Traffic Crashes Among the Youngest Drivers

> **NIH NIH R01** · RESEARCH INST NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSP · 2020 · $378,790

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Teenage drivers have the highest proportion of cellphone-related crashes, and traffic crashes are their leading
cause of death. The death rate among drivers age 14-17 years hiked 17% from 2014 to 2016 nationally, with
increasing cellphone-related distracted-driving as a suggested contributor. While 40 states and DC had
enacted young-driver phone laws to ban all cellphone use or handheld use by September 2017, provisions
vary greatly (e.g., all cellphone ban vs. handheld phone ban, all license types vs. learner permits/intermediate
licenses). The extent to which young-driver phone bans and their specific provisions reduce texting and
crashes is unknown. Therefore, we propose a four-year project with objectives to determine, across multiple
states, the impact of young-driver phone bans and universal phone bans (i.e., for all ages) on texting or
emailing while driving, and the rates of injury and fatal crashes among teens (<18 years). We hypothesize that
the effectiveness of laws is impacted by certain provisions. The specific aims of this renewal application are to
determine which provisions of young-driver phone bans and universal texting bans reduce teen texting or
emailing while driving (Aim 1), and to identify which provisions of young-driver phone bans and universal
phone bans reduce crashes involving teen drivers (<18 years) (Aim 2). Cellphone ban provisions to be
examined include: 1) scope of banned activities (texting, handheld phone use, all phone use); 2) affected
license types (learner permit / intermediate license, all licenses); 3) mode of enforcement (primary
enforcement—officers can stop a vehicle for phone use only; or secondary enforcement—driver must first be
cited for another infraction); 4) initial monetary amount of fine; 5) increases in fines for multiple citations; and 6)
whether an infraction delays full licensure. The aims will be accomplished by combining and analyzing survey,
legislative, economic, population, and crash data from various systems maintained by federal, state, and
private agencies. Random-effects logistic and quasi-Poisson models will be used to estimate the effects of
state-level laws on individual-level phone use and state-level crash rates. Level of enforcement will be
examined as a mediator in the path from cellphone laws to changes in cellphone-use-while-driving behaviors,
as well as changes in injuries, and deaths related to cellphone use while driving. Guided by strong preliminary
data and our last R01, this study is also innovative by using multiple measures of impact include texting while
driving, fatal crashes, and driver injuries. This project is significant, because its findings can inform states'
efforts to develop/improve laws to reduce phone-related crashes, injuries, and deaths involving teen drivers.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10000115
- **Project number:** 5R01HD074594-07
- **Recipient organization:** RESEARCH INST NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSP
- **Principal Investigator:** Motao Zhu
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $378,790
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2013-01-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10000115

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10000115, Cellphone Laws, Texting While Driving, and Traffic Crashes Among the Youngest Drivers (5R01HD074594-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10000115. Licensed CC0.

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