Do Cellphone Bans Save Lives? Evidence From Handheld Laws on Traffic Fatalities

Abstract

Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of fatal motor vehicle accidents in the United States. Policymakers in several states have responded to this phenomenon by implementing laws that restrict the use of handheld devices while operating a vehicle. In this paper, we utilize various quasi-experimental designs to estimate the impact of state-level handheld mandates on traffic fatalities. We find robust evidence that restricting the use of handheld devices while driving reduces daily traffic fatalities by 0.63 individuals in the short term. The results further indicate that while the magnitude of the impact is smaller in the long term, this policy is still effective at curbing traffic fatalities, saving more than 69 lives per state each year.