Reducing Fatalities on the Road: Georgia’s Hands-Free Law and Other Possible Solutions
Disciplines
Transportation
Abstract (300 words maximum)
It is important to know the conditions that make driving deadly. Georgia instituted the Hands-Free law in July 2018 that requires drivers to not touch their cell phone while driving. Did the number of fatal accidents or the number of fatalities in those accidents change after the law? Websites tally fatalities, but do not study how these fatalities are associated with road conditions and structures before and after the law. The purpose of this study is to address this need and to research factors that could decrease fatalities in Georgia and the nation. Data from 10,166 fatal accidents from 2015 to 2021 in Georgia from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System’s website were divided into groups before and after the Hands-Free Law. Whether the relationships changed before and after the Law were considered between these two sets of variables: Weekday, Road Type (Interstates, Metropolitan, Lower Density Roads), Collision Direction, and Weather Conditions versus the Number of Fatal Accidents and the Number of Fatalities in those accidents. In addition, 39,508 fatal accidents nationally in 2021 were also considered for the relationships between these factors and fatalities. Chi-Square Tests, Analysis of Variance, and nonparametric methods were performed. Georgia findings for 2015 to 2021 included that there were significantly more fatal accidents per day after the Hands-Free Law was implemented. However, the number of fatalities within a fatal accident was not significantly changed. After the Law, fatal accidents on interstates increased. Some of the national findings for 2021 included (1) most fatal accidents and the most fatalities occur on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and (2) head-on collisions on interstates are the deadliest. As a result, drivers should increase caution when driving (1) on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and (2) reduce speeds on roads that do not have medians.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - Interdisciplinary Studies
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Susan Mathews Hardy
Reducing Fatalities on the Road: Georgia’s Hands-Free Law and Other Possible Solutions
It is important to know the conditions that make driving deadly. Georgia instituted the Hands-Free law in July 2018 that requires drivers to not touch their cell phone while driving. Did the number of fatal accidents or the number of fatalities in those accidents change after the law? Websites tally fatalities, but do not study how these fatalities are associated with road conditions and structures before and after the law. The purpose of this study is to address this need and to research factors that could decrease fatalities in Georgia and the nation. Data from 10,166 fatal accidents from 2015 to 2021 in Georgia from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System’s website were divided into groups before and after the Hands-Free Law. Whether the relationships changed before and after the Law were considered between these two sets of variables: Weekday, Road Type (Interstates, Metropolitan, Lower Density Roads), Collision Direction, and Weather Conditions versus the Number of Fatal Accidents and the Number of Fatalities in those accidents. In addition, 39,508 fatal accidents nationally in 2021 were also considered for the relationships between these factors and fatalities. Chi-Square Tests, Analysis of Variance, and nonparametric methods were performed. Georgia findings for 2015 to 2021 included that there were significantly more fatal accidents per day after the Hands-Free Law was implemented. However, the number of fatalities within a fatal accident was not significantly changed. After the Law, fatal accidents on interstates increased. Some of the national findings for 2021 included (1) most fatal accidents and the most fatalities occur on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and (2) head-on collisions on interstates are the deadliest. As a result, drivers should increase caution when driving (1) on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and (2) reduce speeds on roads that do not have medians.