The impact of hands-free laws fades over time, according to the latest data from Cambridge Telematics (CMT).* This is because the initial surge of awareness about the law is unsustainable over time and distraction levels increase again.
“In the first few months, reporters write about it, the government runs campaigns for it, and police officers actively educate drivers about it. Over time though, resources and attention shift to other areas,” said Cambridge Analytics.
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Cambridge Mobile Telematics Observations
It’s been more than seven months since Ohio introduced its hands-free bill on 4April 2023. We’ve found that the law has reduced distracted driving significantly across the state, dropping from 1 minute and 39 seconds per hour of distraction to 1 minute and 31 seconds in the first month.
- It’s fluctuated a bit since then, bouncing between 1 minute and 30 seconds and 1 minute and 33 seconds of distraction per hour, averaging 1 minute and 32 seconds across the seven months. This is a 7.4% drop from the month before the law. We estimate that the law has prevented 3200 crashes, eight fatalities, and $78 million in economic damages.
- On October 5, the grace period for Ohio’s hands-free law ended. Now, drivers in Ohio will be fined $150 for their first offense and get 2 points on their license. The Ohio State Highway Patrol says it’s already issued more than 1500 tickets for distracted driving. OSHP estimates that fatal and injury-related crashes caused by distracted driving have fallen by 19% this year.
Michigan began its hands-free law on June 30, 2023. Unlike Ohio, Michigan’s law didn’t have a grace period. Despite technically being able to give drivers tickets for driving distracted, many Michigan police departments focused on educating drivers first.
“Sometimes, it’s not all about ticket writing — it’s about educating,” Lt. Royd Coleman of the Detroit traffic enforcement unit told Bridge Michigan. “So if that changes a person’s behavior, we’d rather do that.”
- Michigan’s hands-free journey started similarly enough to Ohio’s. Distracted driving dropped by 13 seconds in the first month. It fell again in the second month, landing at 1 minute and 33 seconds, 13.7% less than the month before the law.
“Compared to Ohio’s drop of over 8% in the first month after the law, Michigan’s initial results were strong. This may be due to the lack of a grace period — drivers knew they could be ticketed immediately. The combination of heightened awareness and immediate enforcement could deepen the initial impact of a hands-free law.”
- Since then, however, distracted driving in Michigan has ticked up each month. In month three, distraction rose to 1 minute and 36 seconds. By month five, it was at 1 minute and 40 seconds, just 7.1% lower than before the law.
- For comparison, distraction was 7% lower in Ohio in month five. In Michigan, distraction has increased every month since month 3, totaling a 7.6% increase. In the same time period, Ohio’s distraction level increased 2.4%, three times lower.
“The distraction pattern we see with Michigan is typical of hands-free performance. There’s a strong initial push, but without a sustained media strategy awareness falls over time and distraction returns.
“Michigan police have recently seen the impact of this effect. In late October, Michigan’s state police participated in an operation called ‘Ghost Rider,’ cracking down on distracted drivers. Many weren’t aware of the new law,” said CMT.
Distraction has fallen by 10.8% in Michigan since the law began. At this rate, we estimate that the law has prevented 2800 crashes, eight fatalities, and $78 million in economic damages since going into effect in late June.
A New Way To Think Of Grace Periods?
“As we’ve seen from the results in Ohio, grace periods don’t seem to have the same impact on reducing distracted driving as the initial launch of the law. Launching the law without a grace period may have a stronger initial effect, like we saw with Michigan. However, as states evaluate their launch strategy for hands-free laws, they should consider the grace period in two ways.
- First, the grace period is a great opportunity to increase awareness of the law by having officers actively educate drivers about it.
- Second, it creates a media touch-point in the hands-free campaign where politicians can generate attention for the law, highlighting its successes and mapping the next phase.
- Ohio has run this playbook well. As a result, the law has high awareness levels among Ohio drivers. And, as we’ve argued, awareness of hands-free laws leads to lower levels of distracted driving” said CMT.
*Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) is the world’s largest telematics service provider. Its mission is to make the world’s roads and drivers safer. The company’s AI-driven platform, DriveWell®, gathers sensor data from millions of IoT devices, including smartphones, proprietary Tags, connected vehicles, dashcams, and third-party devices , and fuses them with contextual data to create a unified view of vehicle and driver behavior. Companies from personal and commercial auto insurance, automotive, rideshare, smart cities, wireless, financial services, and family safety industries use insights from CMT’s platform to power their risk assessment, safety, claims, and driver improvement programs. Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, with offices in Budapest, Chennai, Seattle, Tokyo, and Zagreb, CMT serves millions of people through over 95 programs in 25 countries, including 21 of the top 25 US auto insurers.
Distracted Driving Laws – Hands Free Results Vary
The impact of hands-free laws fades over time, according to the latest data from Cambridge Telematics (CMT).* This is because the initial surge of awareness about the law is unsustainable over time and distraction levels increase again.
“In the first few months, reporters write about it, the government runs campaigns for it, and police officers actively educate drivers about it. Over time though, resources and attention shift to other areas,” said Cambridge Analytics.
Click to Enlarge.
Cambridge Mobile Telematics Observations
It’s been more than seven months since Ohio introduced its hands-free bill on 4April 2023. We’ve found that the law has reduced distracted driving significantly across the state, dropping from 1 minute and 39 seconds per hour of distraction to 1 minute and 31 seconds in the first month.
Michigan began its hands-free law on June 30, 2023. Unlike Ohio, Michigan’s law didn’t have a grace period. Despite technically being able to give drivers tickets for driving distracted, many Michigan police departments focused on educating drivers first.
“Sometimes, it’s not all about ticket writing — it’s about educating,” Lt. Royd Coleman of the Detroit traffic enforcement unit told Bridge Michigan. “So if that changes a person’s behavior, we’d rather do that.”
“Compared to Ohio’s drop of over 8% in the first month after the law, Michigan’s initial results were strong. This may be due to the lack of a grace period — drivers knew they could be ticketed immediately. The combination of heightened awareness and immediate enforcement could deepen the initial impact of a hands-free law.”
“The distraction pattern we see with Michigan is typical of hands-free performance. There’s a strong initial push, but without a sustained media strategy awareness falls over time and distraction returns.
“Michigan police have recently seen the impact of this effect. In late October, Michigan’s state police participated in an operation called ‘Ghost Rider,’ cracking down on distracted drivers. Many weren’t aware of the new law,” said CMT.
Distraction has fallen by 10.8% in Michigan since the law began. At this rate, we estimate that the law has prevented 2800 crashes, eight fatalities, and $78 million in economic damages since going into effect in late June.
A New Way To Think Of Grace Periods?
“As we’ve seen from the results in Ohio, grace periods don’t seem to have the same impact on reducing distracted driving as the initial launch of the law. Launching the law without a grace period may have a stronger initial effect, like we saw with Michigan. However, as states evaluate their launch strategy for hands-free laws, they should consider the grace period in two ways.
*Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) is the world’s largest telematics service provider. Its mission is to make the world’s roads and drivers safer. The company’s AI-driven platform, DriveWell®, gathers sensor data from millions of IoT devices, including smartphones, proprietary Tags, connected vehicles, dashcams, and third-party devices , and fuses them with contextual data to create a unified view of vehicle and driver behavior. Companies from personal and commercial auto insurance, automotive, rideshare, smart cities, wireless, financial services, and family safety industries use insights from CMT’s platform to power their risk assessment, safety, claims, and driver improvement programs. Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, with offices in Budapest, Chennai, Seattle, Tokyo, and Zagreb, CMT serves millions of people through over 95 programs in 25 countries, including 21 of the top 25 US auto insurers.