Teen Texting While Driving in Association With All-Driver and Young-Driver Cellphone Laws

Purpose: Cellphone-related driver distraction claimed 402 lives, over 26,000 injuries, and $10 billion in economic costs including medical costs in 2022 in the United States. Young drivers exhibit a disproportionately higher prevalence of cellphone use while driving and are over-represented in traffic injuries. We assessed the impact of all-driver and young-driver cellphone laws on teen drivers’ texting behaviors. Methods: Participants were 110,193 high school students from the 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019 state Youth Risk Behavior Survey across 42 states. We utilized survey-weighted modified Poisson regression with robust standard errors to estimate the associations. Results: Approximately 54% of high school student drivers reported texting while driving monthly. The presence of both an all-driver texting law and a young-driver cellphone law was not associated with less texting while driving, compared to states without such laws. However, an all-driver comprehensive handheld ban, without a young-driver cellphone law, was associated with a 26% lower prevalence of texting while driving (adjusted prevalence ratio: 0.74, 95% confidence interval: 0.68–0.80) compared to states with an all-driver texting law and a young-driver cellphone law. In contrast, a young-driver cellphone law without an all-driver cellphone law was not associated with less texting (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.04, 95% confidence interval: 0.98–1.11). Discussion: Young-driver cellphone laws showed limited effectiveness in reducing texting while driving, while all-driver handheld cellphone bans were effective. Our findings underscore the safety benefits of implementing all-driver handheld bans in the 22 states that have yet to enact such legislation.