Texting bans may add risk to roads

In a previous post I commented on some Interesting research being carried out by Jeffrey Miron into the effects of banning the use of cell phones while driving. Now I see from the Not PC blog that there are reports already out on this issue. In fact Texting bans may add risk to roads. The USA Today article says,

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Laws banning texting while driving actually may prompt a slight increase in road crashes, research out today shows..

and

"Texting bans haven't reduced crashes at all," says Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, whose research arm studied the effectiveness of the laws.

and

Researchers at the Highway Loss Data Institute compared rates of collision insurance claims in four states — California, Louisiana, Minnesota and Washington — before and after they enacted texting bans. Crash rates rose in three of the states after bans were enacted.

The Highway Loss group theorizes that drivers try to evade police by lowering their phones when texting, increasing the risk by taking their eyes even further from the road and for a longer time.

So, again, a law seems not be archiving what it set out to achieve. When will law makers learn?