A new study from the insurance industry finds that state laws banning the use of handheld devices to make a call or send a text message while driving have not resulted in fewer vehicle crashes.
The study, released Friday by the Highway Loss Data Institute, examined insurance claims from crashes before and after such bans took effect in Washington state and elsewhere. The organization found that claims rates did not go down after the laws were enacted. It also found no change in patterns compared with nearby states without such bans.
The group’s Adrian Lund said the finding doesn’t bode well “for any safety payoff from all the new laws.” It added that the findings “don’t match what we already know about the risk of phoning and texting while driving” and that it needed to study the discrepancy.
Associated Press
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