A study was conducted by the Highway Loss Data Institute or HLDI regarding the effects of banning texting while on the road driving to the rate of auto insurance car crash claims in four states namely Louisiana, Washington, Minnesota, and California. They have found out that in these four states, the number of accidents were not reduced as well as the number of claims being filed for car collisions. Even three of the states demonstrated an increase in car crash rates when the time the law of banning texting while driving was put into practice. The increase in rate ranged from one percent to nine percent in Washington and Minnesota, respectively.
HLDI questioned the efforts of lawmakers in reducing accidents due to distracted driving. According to its president, Adrian Lund, lawmakers are only focusing on one manifestation of distraction and forbidding it. He emphasized that there are numerous sources of distractions, and forbidding one or two of them will not help solve the problem. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety or IIHS on the other hand says that the reason why these laws are deemed ineffective is because drivers or motorists choose not to comply. The enforcement is not strong enough for motorists to know the importance of not texting while driving.
In response to Lund’s statement, Ray LaHood, the Secretary of US Department of Transportation, said that it was misleading. He also said that HLDI and IIHS bring into disrepute lawmakers’ efforts in reducing and eventually ending distracted driving. LaHood said that there was a campaign in the Northeast showing four cities that implemented the law proves that it is effective. He emphasized that if ever existing laws have little effect, the department will not stop in looking for the right solution in regards to distracted driving. In fact, the US Department of Transportation hosted the Distracted Driving Summit where safety experts and policymakers met to review existing laws and their effectiveness in practice from the first Summit and discuss new ways on how to improve them and eventually reduce car accidents.
According to IIHS, the law indicating that texting while driving is prohibited is in practice in 30 states. Drivers can be pulled over by law enforcement if they were seen texting while driving. Auto insurance companies have also taken into consideration the efforts of the government in reducing distracted driving by imposing charges if policyholders were involved in an accident and they are at-fault because of texting while driving.
