New Hampshire has had more vehicle related-deaths since passing the Hands-free “cellphone” ban. A law restricting behavior we were told was killing our kids. More or less. Granite Stater’s using smartphones and hand-held devices were distracted. This caused crashes which resulted in fatalities. But since the law went into effect in 2015, the only change has been not fewer dead but more.
Related: Despite “Hands-Free Law” Passage NH Highway Deaths Remain High
New Hampshire saw around a 40 percent increase in traffic fatalities in 2018, reaching the highest number in over a decade.
As of December 26, the numbers from the Department of Safety put the total of fatal crashes to 129, and the number of deaths from those crashes to 142.
The point of restricting everyone’s liberty was that we would be rewarded with fewer deaths. For perspective, 2018 may set a record for most vehicle fatalities in a calendar year. What caused this?
“…many occurred because of what Haynes calls “human behavior;” between 30 and 40 percent of the fatalities were the result of drug and alcohol use.
And then there’s the issue of distracted driving.
“The other things that we’re seeing that are somewhat alarming is failure to yield, which we haven’t seen in previous years,” he says. “And we’re seeing a number of center-line encroachments which appears to be more of a distraction-related issue.”
More distracted driving statistics and facts can be found at Cogburn Cares.
Human behavior?
Let me say what you can’t. The hands-free ban never worked. It was never going to work. Why? Human behavior. People were always going to try and use their devices. The law incentivized them to hide it in their laps which represents significantly more risk. The data supports this reality. Street cops know it. Local Chiefs realize it too.
And the problem isn’t the smartphone it is the people. It was always the people. Hands-free technology didn’t help. Driverless cars might, but you don’t need a hands-free law then do you?
Anything approaching meaningful enforcement was always a joke.
The existing distracted driving law made some sense. The unenforceable texting ban even had a sliver of merit. But prohibiting every driver in the state from using a handheld device (with few exceptions) went too far. You subjected us all to arbitrary force, and more people are dying because of it.
Related: NH Bill To Ban Cell Phone Use in Motor Vehicles (Except for Hands-Free), Both Stupid And Useless.
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