Phone Use by Drivers Dropped After Ohio Passed Texting While Driving Law

Driving while fiddling with your phone is now a primary offense statewide Credit: Mike Skoropad/FlickrCC

In April, Ohio finally made it illegal to fiddle with your phone while behind the wheel as part of a comprehensive distracted driving law that made it a primary offense to use your cell on the road, with very few exceptions, such as hands-free calls.

Texting while driving was previously a secondary offense, which meant it couldn’t be the reason for a cop to pull you over. The new law had broader provisions that basically made it illegal to use your phone for any reason while cruising along.

Following a six-month grace period in which offenders were given warnings by officers, citations began being issued on Oct. 5, which carry a $150 fine and two points on a driver’s license for first-time offenders.

The good news, according to a study from Cambridge Mobile Telematics, which gathered data from smartphones, dashcams and other devices to analyze driver behavior, is that there’s been a reduction in phone use by Ohio drivers since the law went into effect, reducing the average time of distraction per hour from one minute and thirty-nine seconds to closer to 1:30, a 7.4% drop from March, before the law was passed.

It might not sound like much, but it has produced results: The Ohio State Highway Patrol says fatal and injury-related crashes in the state due to distracted driving have decreased by 19% in 2023.

And CMT’s study says the drop has prevented 3,200 crashes, eight fatalities and some $78 million in economic damage.

As Axios Cleveland reported, there have still been 700 distracted driving crashes in Cuyahoga County this year.

But enforcement is beefing up. The Ohio State Highway Patrol has handed out more than 1,500 tickets and Axios pinned I-480 and I-271 as the home of the most citations issued in the county so far this year.

“This law will clearly save lives,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said at a press conference this spring. “There’s absolutely no doubt about it. It will spare many families the grief and the sorrow that unfortunately many of our families have suffered in the last few years because of distracted driving.”

In its awareness campaign, the state also urged drivers to leave the phone aside even when the car isn’t moving.

“Looking at your cell phone while stopped at a light can potentially endanger your family, friends, and neighbors,” it goes on to state. “Drivers have a responsibility to watch for people crossing the street or other drivers and bicyclists who haven’t yet cleared the intersection.”

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