Effective July 1, 2004, Washington, D.C., made it illegal for drivers to talk on hand-held cell phones. To determine the effects of the ban on drivers’ use of hand-held phones, daytime observations of drivers were conducted at signalized intersections in D.C. in March 2004, well before the law took effect, and again in October 2004. Observations also were conducted in Maryland and Virginia, adjacent states without limitations on drivers’ phone use. Talking on hand-held cell phones among drivers in D.C. declined significantly from 6.1 percent before the law to 3.5 percent after. Phone use declined slightly in Maryland and increased significantly in Virginia so that, relative to the patterns of hand-held phone use in the two states, phone use in D.C. declined 50 percent. Hand-held phone use in D.C. declined comparably among drivers of vehicles registered in all three jurisdictions. In Maryland, phone use among drivers of vehicles registered in D.C. declined significantly due to an apparent spillover effect; in Virginia, phone use among D.C. drivers increased slightly. This difference likely was due to the obvious boundary between D.C. and Virginia compared with the D.C.-Maryland boundary. D.C. police issued 2,556 citations and 1,232 warnings for cell phone violations during July-November 2004. There were spates of media coverage when the law was passed and when it took effect, but little since. Without ongoing publicized enforcement of the law, long-time compliance may be difficult to achieve. (Author/publisher)
Abstract