Universal hand-held calling bans were associated with 10% lower non–alcohol-related driver fatalities overall and up to 13% lower fatalities across all age groups and sexes, amongst 190,544 drivers from 2000 - 2014, comparing crashes before and after bans. When comparing state-quarter-years with bans to those without, universal texting bans were not associated with lower fatalities overall or for any demographic group. (Rudisill, 2018).
In South Carolina, 5 years of crash data (2017 – 2021) showed that on average, Distracted/Inattention, On Cell Phone, or Texting, was involved in 27% of collisions. (SCDPS, 2022, on request from Senate)
The SC General Assembly passed the Police Betterment bill in 2022, which enacted state standards and certification for local police officer behavior. This was a necessary step to improve public trust in law enforcement and certify good behavior, so the Hands Free bill can be passed with the least amount of undue harm to the same communities who are also disproportionately the victims of distracted driving. PCC is committed to taking action on both of these goals.
Let’s end Distracted Driving in SC with the Hands Free bill.
