Laws that Ban Cell Phone Use While Driving (2009-2012)

Analyzing the impact of laws that ban cell phone use while driving, on accident rates.

Papers Published

Nikolaev, A.G., Robbins, M.J., Jacobson, S.H., 2010, “Evaluating the Impact of Legislation Prohibiting Hand-Held Cell Phone Use While Driving,” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 44(3), 182-193.

King, D.M., Jacobson, S.H., Ryan, K., Robbins, M.J., 2012, “Assessing the Long Term Benefit of Hand-held Wireless Device Bans While Driving” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 46(12), 1586-1593.

Media Coverage

Banning Cellphones in Cars Only Helps in Cities. Live Science. Reported 16 November 2012.

Study: Cell Phone Bans Associated with Fewer Urban Accidents was covered on WICD-15 ABC, Yahoo! News, Prevention Magazine, and others. Reported 15 November 2012.

Sheldon H. Jacobson was quoted in the news stories, “Texting while driving hard to enforce,” reported by WLDS-WEAI News (Jacksonville, IL), and “Illinois Lawmakers Debate New Cell Phone Restrictions,” reported by CBS (KMOX St. Louis) on 23 April 2012.

(Champaign, IL, WICD ABC) Do Cell Phone Laws Work? Reported 16 November 2016.

A Minute with Sheldon Jacobson, an expert on travel safety: Ditch the gadgets when driving in Memorial Day weekend traffic. Reported 26 May 2010. See also the Champaign News Gazette on 31 May 2010: Effectiveness of cell phone ban detailed in UI prof’s research.

News Release studying the impact of laws that ban hand-held cell phone use while driving: Cell Phone Bans While Driving have more Impact in Dense, Urban Areas. Reported 8 February 2010.

Students Involved

2009

Alex Nikolaev (Industrial Engineering Graduate Student, University of Illinois)

Matthew J. Robbins (Industrial Engineering Graduate Student, University of Illinois)

Kevin Ryan (Mathematics Graduate Student, University of Illinois)

Last updated: April 2, 2016

URL address: BTRI

Contact Information: Sheldon H. Jacobson, 217-244-7275, email, twitter