Michigan’s hands-free driving law prevents 5,500 accidents and 25 deaths in its first year

Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) announced the one-year results of Michigan’s hands-free law, which takes effect June 30, 2023. In the year since the law went into effect, Michigan has reduced distracted driving by 12.8%. CMT estimates that this reduction in phone use while driving has prevented 5,500 crashes, 3,000 injuries, 25 deaths, and $218 million in economic damages.

Hands-free driving laws have been proven effective in reducing distracted driving. In addition to Michigan, the states of Ohio, Alabama and Missouri have also introduced new hands-free driving laws in 2023, all of which include improvements.

In the month before Michigan’s law went into effect, drivers used their phones for 1 minute and 48 seconds per hour of driving. The following month, distraction dropped to 1 minute and 36 seconds, a 12-second decrease. The average amount of distraction per hour since then has been 1 minute and 35 seconds, with even lower figures for the last three months. According to CMT, for every 10% decrease in distraction, the number of fatal crashes involving drivers drops by 1.5%.

“We have worked tirelessly for years to get the hands-free law passed in Michigan,” said Steve KieferFounder and Chairman of the Kiefer Foundation. “CMT’s data shows that these laws work. They reduce distracted driving and save lives. We hope other states look at Michigan’s success and enact their own hands-free laws to save even more lives on the road.”

In Michigan, efforts to pass such a law began after Bonnie Raffaele lost her daughter, Kelseyin an accident caused by an inattentive driver in January 2010. Raffaele wanted to pass a law on hands-free devices at the time, but was only able to pass a law against texting, which came into force in 2010, and a ban on handheld devices for novice drivers, which came into force in 2013.

In 2016 Mitchell Kiefera freshman at Michigan State University, was killed in an accident caused by an inattentive driver. The Kiefer family founded the Kiefer Foundation to campaign for the passage of a hands-free law in his memory. As governor… Gretchen Whitmer When she took office, she said in her first State of the State address in 2019 that she wanted to pass a hands-free car law.

“You can’t navigate a road by looking at your phone. That’s why we need safer roads in addition to better roads,” Whitmer said at the time. “I believe it’s time for Michigan to join the 16 states that have passed hands-free laws to protect our roads and our children. So let’s make it happen.”

Jennifer SmithCEO of Stop Distractions and a member of CMT’s Road Safety Advisory Board, said she did not believe similar laws would be extended to other technologies in vehicles.

“The cell phone is the most common distraction on the road and the data shows that it is the cause of most distraction-related crashes,” Smith said. “The hands-free law is the most effective way to reduce distraction-related crashes and deaths.”

Smith said that since Michigan passed its law last year, Colorado and Pennsylvania have also passed hands-free laws. She added that 29 states have yet to pass similar legislation, and that nearly all of them have bills introduced each legislative session.