An Arizona law making it illegal to hold a cellphone while driving cut handheld conversations but not other manual cellphone activities, a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has shown.
Telematics data compiled anonymously from insurance companies’ safe-driving apps showed that Arizona drivers spent 26 per cent less time on handheld calls after the ban went into effect than before, but the new law had little impact on cellphone manipulation — an umbrella term that covers scrolling, swiping, typing and any other action that requires holding the device.
“These results are a bit of a reality check. ‘No holding’ laws are a positive step, but it will take more than better-worded legislation alone to combat cellphone distraction,” said IIHS President David Harkey.
To measure the law’s impact, IIHS researchers analyzed roadside observation data from trained observers and telematics data from insurers’ safe-driving apps from before and after the law went into effect. They compared the trends from Arizona with Nevada, which does not have a law against holding a cellphone but has banned texting and handheld calls since 2012.
Roadside observations showed that, relative to Nevada drivers, Arizona drivers were about seven per cent less likely to be seen having handheld conversations immediately after the law went into effect than before.
The telematics data showed larger reductions. The first year that the law was in effect, drivers were about 17 per cent less likely to make handheld calls and 22 per cent less likely to be on a handheld call at any given moment. By 2024, those reductions widened to 21 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively.
However, the picture was different for cellphone manipulation. Roadside observations showed a small decline, but telematics data showed slight increases in the likelihood of cellphone manipulation occurring on trips. At any given moment of a trip, cellphone manipulation declined slightly the first year the law was in effect and then increased slightly through 2024.
