1.4 General Driver Distraction Laws

Table of Contents

Effectiveness: Cost: Varies
Use:^† High
Included under reckless driving; use of explicit distraction laws is low Time: Short

This countermeasure involves laws that specifically target the issue of distracted drivers. This law would permit drivers who are involved in a crash or who commit an infraction to be cited for distracted driving if a police officer believes distraction to be the underlying cause. Distraction is “anything that diverts the driver’s attention from the primary tasks of navigating the vehicle and responding to critical events” (NHTSA, n.d.).

Effectiveness Concerns: Laws that specifically target distracted drivers are not widely enforced, and this countermeasure has not been systematically examined. There are insufficient evaluation data available to conclude that the countermeasure is effective.

Further information about the known research, potential effectiveness, costs, use, and time to implement is available in Appendix A4, Section 1.4.

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