At the time of this study, all authors were with the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, College Station.
Am J Public Health. 2019 May;109(5):748-754. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2019.304999. Epub 2019 Mar 21.
To examine the impact of state texting bans on motor vehicle crash (MVC)-related emergency department (ED) visits.
We used ED data from 16 US states between 2007 and 2014. We employed a difference-in-difference approach and conditional Poisson regressions to estimate changes in counts of MVC-related ED visits in states with and without texting bans. We also constructed age cohorts to explore whether texting bans have differential impacts by age group.
On average, states with a texting ban saw a 4% reduction in MVC-related ED visits (incidence rate ratio = 0.96; 95% confidence interval = 0.96, 0.97). This equates to an average of 1632 traffic-related ED visits prevented per year in states with a ban. Both primary and secondary bans were associated with significant reductions in MVC-related visits to the ED regardless of whether they were on all drivers or young drivers only. Individuals aged 64 years and younger in states with a texting ban saw significantly fewer MVC-related ED visits following its implementation.
Our findings suggest that states' efforts to curb distracted driving through texting bans and decrease its negative consequences are associated with significant decreases in the incidence of ED visits that follow an MVC.
考察州 texting 禁令对机动车事故（MVC）相关急诊就诊的影响。
我们使用了 2007 年至 2014 年 16 个美国州的急诊数据。我们采用差分法和条件泊松回归，估计了有无 texting 禁令的州 MVC 相关急诊就诊次数的变化。我们还构建了年龄队列，以探讨 texting 禁令是否对不同年龄组有不同的影响。
平均而言，有 texting 禁令的州 MVC 相关急诊就诊减少了 4%（发病率比=0.96；95%置信区间=0.96，0.97）。这意味着在实施禁令的州，每年可预防平均 1632 次与交通相关的急诊就诊。无论是针对所有司机还是年轻司机，初级和二级禁令都与 MVC 相关急诊就诊的显著减少相关。在实施 texting 禁令的州，年龄在 64 岁及以下的个体在其实施后，MVC 相关急诊就诊次数明显减少。
我们的研究结果表明，各州通过 texting 禁令遏制分心驾驶及其负面影响的努力与 ED 就诊人数的显著减少相关，而这些 ED 就诊是 MVC 后的结果。
