Evaluation of NHTSA Distracted Driving Demonstration Projects in Connecticut and New York

Chaudhary, Neil K.; Casanova-Powell, Tara; Cosgrove, Linda; Reagan, Ian; Williams, Allan · 2012 · ROSA P / United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Office of Behavioral Safety Research

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Summary

This report evaluates the effectiveness of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) High-Visibility Enforcement (HVE) model in reducing distracted driving, specifically the use of hand-held cell phones and texting. The study was motivated by the growing prevalence of mobile device use while driving, which degrades driver performance visually, manually, and cognitively, thereby increasing crash risk. While laws banning hand-held phone use existed in Connecticut and New York, compliance remained low. The research aimed to determine if the HVE model—combining strong laws, vigorous targeted enforcement, extensive media campaigns, and evaluation—could successfully reduce these behaviors. The study was conducted in Hartford, Connecticut, and Syracuse, New York, over a one-year period from April 2010 to April 2011. Both sites implemented four waves of enforcement. The campaign utilized paid television, radio, and online advertising featuring the slogan “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other,” alongside significant earned media coverage. Law enforcement agencies in both locations issued substantial citations, ranging from 100 to 200 per 10,000 population per wave, which exceeded prior-year ticketing rates by approximately 60 times. Control areas were established in Stamford and Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Albany, New York, to compare outcomes against baseline enforcement levels. Data collection included driver surveys to measure awareness and observational studies at 15 sites per intervention area and control area, totaling over 225,000 observed drivers. The results indicated significant increases in public awareness. In Hartford, awareness of enhanced enforcement rose from 31% to 71%, and recognition of the campaign slogan increased from 5% to 54%. In Syracuse, enforcement awareness rose from 41% to 76%, with slogan recognition increasing from 5% to 29%. Observed hand-held cell phone use decreased significantly in both intervention sites. In Hartford, usage dropped from 6.8% to 2.9% (a 57% reduction), compared to a 15% reduction in the Connecticut control areas. In Syracuse, usage fell from 3.7% to 2.5% (a 32% reduction). However, the New York control area (Albany) also saw a significant 40% reduction, likely due to concurrent state-wide enforcement campaigns, suggesting the specific HVE impact in Syracuse was less distinct than in Hartford. The greatest reductions in both states were observed among drivers aged 25 to 59. The study concludes that high-visibility enforcement campaigns are effective in reducing the number of people who use hand-held cell phones while driving. The findings support the application of the HVE model to distracted driving, consistent with its success in other traffic safety areas such as seat belt use and impaired driving. The report highlights that while laws are necessary, they require vigorous, highly visible enforcement and public communication to achieve significant behavior change. The success in Hartford, despite the confounding factors in the New York control site, demonstrates the potential of this approach to enhance compliance with existing distracted driving laws.

Key finding

High-visibility enforcement campaigns reduced observed hand-held cell phone use by 57% in Hartford and 32% in Syracuse over the course of the year-long demonstration.

Methodology

field_study

Sample size: 225540

Provenance

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Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• distraction laws
• mobile phones
• distraction detection algorithms
• visual
• seat belt use
• public messaging

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation, policy recommendations
• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence