If you’re trying to keep drivers from picking up their phones, make it a game, according to a new study.
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found a 28 percent reduction in handheld phone use while driving if motorists could earn points for doing so and had the chance to compete in a weekly leaderboard of others like them.
The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), also found the habit stuck once the intervention—and the games—ended.
“Distracted driving is responsible for almost one million crashes in the United States each year,” said study lead author Jeffrey Ebert, PhD, director of applied behavioral science at the Nudge Unit, part of Penn Medicine’s Center for Health Care Transformation & Innovation.
“Interventions like this could start to bring that number down.”
Participants in the study were randomly assigned to one of four intervention strategies or a control group. All strategies involved giving drivers a hands-free cell phone mount for their car.
The group that combined the most interventions, including the points game, a share of a prize for earning enough points, and the leaderboard with added prize money, achieved a 28 percent reduction in time engaged in handheld phone use while driving.
That rate stayed the same when researchers followed up after the game and incentives were over, as long as 65 days afterward.
Even in the group where prize money wasn’t available, a 21 percent reduction in phone time was seen. They also maintained a significant decline in phone usage after their game ended, keeping it down by 16 percent.
“This tells me that a lot of people genuinely wanted to become safer, more focused drivers, and the study helped them develop lasting, good habits around their phone use,” Ebert added.
