Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33267912›Full record

ArticleInjury epidemiology2020

Cellphone laws and teens' calling while driving: analysis of repeated cross-sectional surveys in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019.

Li Li, Caitlin N Pope, Rebecca R Andridge, Julie K Bower, Guoqing Hu, Motao Zhu

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Injury epidemiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Teen Texting While Driving in Association With All-Driver and Young-Driver Cellphone Laws.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Texting While Driving: A Literature Review on Driving Simulator Studies.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Li LiDivision of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH, 43205-2664, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6701-6993
Caitlin N PopeGraduate Center for Gerontology, Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, College of Public Health, University of Kentucky, 725 Rose Street, Suite 401, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA.
Rebecca R AndridgeDivision of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 242 Cunz Hall, 1841 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
Julie K BowerDivision of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH, 43205-2664, USA.
Guoqing HuDepartment of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, 110 Xiangya Road, Changsha, 410078, Hunan, China.
Motao ZhuDivision of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH, 43205-2664, USA. Motao.Zhu@nationwidechildrens.org.
The Ohio State University · USCentral South University · CNNationwide Children's Hospital · USThe Graduate Center, CUNY · US

Funding

Do Cell Phone Laws Reducing Calling, Texting, and Crashes Among Young DriversR01HD074594 · NICHD · WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY · PI ZHU, MOTAO · 2013 to 2021
$2.0M
NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD074594NIH HHS R01HD074594
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDistracted driving among teens is a public health and safety concern. Most states in the U.S. have sought to restrict cellphone use while driving by enacting laws. This study examines the difference in prevalence of self-reported calling while driving (CWD) between states with different cellphone bans.

methodsDemographics and CWD data were extracted from state Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS) from 14 states in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019. The state YRBS is conducted every 2 years with a representative sample of 9th through 12th grade students attending public school. States were grouped by type of cellphone law(s): no ban (the absence of both handheld calling ban and young driver ban), young driver ban (a ban on all forms of cellphone use while driving, for young drivers only), or concurrent ban (a young driver ban plus a ban on handheld calling for all drivers irrespective of age). Poisson regression models with robust variance were used to estimate prevalence ratios comparing CWD prevalence across ban types.

resultsIn total, 157,423 high school students participated in the surveys, and 65,044 (45%) participants reached the minimum age to obtain an intermediate license and drove during the 30 days prior the survey. Approximately 53% of participants reported CWD at least once during the previous 30 days, and the percentages varied widely by states (range: 51-55%). Compared to students from states with no ban, those from states with concurrent bans were 19%(95% CI: 14-24%) less likely to engage in CWD. Students in states with concurrent bans were 23% less likely to engage in CWD compared to students in states with young driver bans (95% CI:17-27%).

conclusionsEngaging in CWD is common among teen drivers. The concurrent implementation of a handheld calling ban and a young driver ban was associated with a lower prevalence of CWD.

Indexed as

Cell phone lawsCell phone use, AdolescentDistracted drivingHandheld ban

Identifiers

PMID33267912
PMCPMC7713022
OpenAlexW3108212317

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.