January 2013

Survey Reveals Public Open to Ban on Hand-Held 

Cell Phone Use and Texting 

by Jenny Guarino

Special Report

RITA Bureau of Transportation Statistics

A study performed by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reveals that the public is open to a ban on 

hand-held cell phone use while driving. The study is based 

on data from 2009’s Omnibus Household Survey (OHS), 

which is administered by BTS to a national sample of 

approximately 1,000 households. The OHS assesses the 

public’s satisfaction with the U.S. transportation system. In 

October 2009, the survey examined public perceptions1 of 

several activities related to distracted driving, including cell 

phone use (see table 1). Analysis of the study showed:

•	 96 percent thought that text messaging using a cell 

phone, smart phone, or similar device should not be 

permitted while driving;

•	 80 percent thought that drivers should not be allowed 

to talk on a hand-held cell phone while driving; and

•	 nearly three-quarters of the public (72 percent) thought 

that more controls on new cars should be mounted on 

the steering wheel.

Distractions behind the wheel (including texting and cell 

phone use) are a growing and serious concern on our Nation’s roadways. Fatalities in distraction-affected crashes 

increased by 1.9 percent, from 3,267 in 2010 to 3,331 

fatalities in 2011, as the number injured in distractionaffected crashes declined by 7 percent during that same 

time period, from 416,000 to 387,000 people.2 The role of 

distracted driving in a crash is difficult to capture because

data derive mainly from self reporting.3

1

 A four-point Likert response scale was used with the options of “strongly agree,” 

“somewhat agree,” “somewhat disagree” and “strongly disagree.” Respondents 

were asked to pick the category that best fit their beliefs.

2 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2011 Motor Vehicle Crashes: 

Overview, http://www.nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811701.pdf

3

 “An Examination of Driver Distraction as Recorded in NHTSA Databases,” 

NHTSA, September 2009 (Refer to: http://www.distraction.gov/content/pressrelease/2011/12-8.html) 

In an effort to gauge public opinion on distracted driving, 

BTS introduced six distracted driving behavior items in the 

2009 OHS. The results of the OHS found that more than 

19 out of 20 Americans are open to a ban on texting from 

a mobile device while driving, and 16 out of 20 Americans 

are open to a ban on hand-held phone use while driving. 

This broad opposition to texting and hand-held cell phone 

use while driving cuts across all age, income, and regional 

groups (see table 2). These findings are of particular interest given the growing, nationwide concern over cell phone 

use and distracted driving, as shown by the increasing 

number of laws banning cell phone use while driving. As 

of December 2012, 39 States, Guam, and the District of 

Columbia had active bans on text messaging while driving (figure 1). In comparison, only 10 States, the District

of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands prohibited drivers from 

using hand-held cell phones while driving. 

A study from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute 

(VTTI)6 that examined driver distraction in commercial 

vehicle operations helps put the dangers of cell phone use 

while driving in perspective. This study showed: 

•	 text messaging while driving creates a situation that 

makes it 23 times more likely an event will occur that 

compromises driver safety than would occur otherwise, and

•	 sending or receiving a text message takes the driver’s 

eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds—the 

equivalent of driving the length of a football field at 55

mph blind.

Analysis of 2009 Distracted Driving Items

Table 14 outlines the six items used in the 2009 OHS to 

gauge public opinion on a variety of distractions drivers 

4

 Labels in italics used inside table 1 will be used in all subsequent graphics/text to 

identify distracted driving items. 
Figure 1: Distracted Driving Laws by State, 2012

TX

CA

MT

AZ

ID

NV

NM

CO

OR

LI UT

KS

WY

IA

NE

SD

MN

ND

OK

FL

WI

MO

WA

AL GA

AR

MI

PA

NI

NY

NC

LA

MS

TN

VA

KY

OH

ME

SC

WV

VT

NH

NJ

MA

CT

DE

MD

RI

DC

Gulf of Mexico

Pacific

Ocean

Atlantic

Ocean

AK

MEXICO

CANADA

HI

NOTE: District of Columbia has

a Texting and Hand-Held Ban,

Guam has a Texting Ban and the

Virgin Islands have a Hand-Held Ban

0 350 175

Miles ±

No BansPartial BansTexting BanTexting and Hand-Held Ban

Distracted Driving Laws

By State

NOTE: Partial bans refer to States that have laws prohibiting certain groups of drivers from using a hand-held device or texting behind the wheel. Often, these bans are directed towards novice or bus drivers. With the exception of Michigan, New Hampshire, and Utah, all States with a texting ban also have a partial hand-held cell phone usage ban in place. New Mexico’s hand-held ban is for drivers with in state vehicles and novice drivers.SOURCE: All distracted driving laws were pulled from the Official U.S. Government Website for Distracted Driving (Distraction.Gov) maintained by the USDOT’s NationalHighway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is current as of December 19, 2012. For more information on State-specific laws and regulations, please refer to:http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/state-laws.html
BTS Special Report

3

may face while operating a motor vehicle. These items 

are ranked by the percent of respondents who thought the 

activity should not be allowed while driving.5 The item that 

generated the highest level of agreement among survey 

respondents (with 96 percent stating that it should not be 

allowed) involved texting while driving. According to an 

August 2011 report published by NHTSA, text messaging 

while driving is associated with the highest level of distraction potential.6

Table 2 highlights the percent of respondents who disagree with each distracted driving behavior by age group. 

Generally, opposition to distracted driving behavior increases with age. 

Cell Phone Use While Driving

The 2009 OHS survey asked participants to answer questions2 on cell phone use while driving under three specific

conditions: 

5

 “Percent disagree” combines both the “somewhat disagree” and “strongly 

disagree” categories to determine the overall percentage of respondents who 

disagree with each distracted driving item.

6

 “Distraction Effects of Manual Number and Text Entry While Driving”, NHTSA , 

August 2011 (Refer to: http://distraction.gov/download/research-pdf/811510v508.

pdf)

1. texting while driving, 

2. talking on a hand-held phone, or 

3. talking on a hands-free device. 

Table 1 illustrates that the majority of survey respondents 

recognize the danger of cell phone use when behind the 

wheel. About 96 percent of respondents were opposed 

to drivers being allowed to text while operating a vehicle, 

80 percent opposed use of a hand-held phone, and 39 

percent found the use of a hands-free device unacceptable. Figure 2 examines the percent of respondents who 

disagree with cell phone usage while operating a motor 

vehicle, by age group. In the case of hands-free phone 

use, table 2 shows that opposition rose greatly as age 

increased (from 22.36 percent among 18-34 year olds to 

65.23 percent for participants over age 65). When looking

at texting while driving, regardless of age, all participants 

held strong opposition to this activity being allowed while 

driving, with only a 5 percent difference between the

youngest and oldest age groups. 

Figure 3 examines the percent of respondents who oppose 

cell phone use while driving by income groups. As seen, 

the trends of disagreement are very similar amongst each 

distracted driving behavior. Overall, greater opposition exTable 1: Percent of Respondents Who Disagreed With Each Distracted Driving Behavior—October 2009 

Distracted driving item: Percent 

•	 Drivers of motor vehicles should be allowed to text message on a cell phone, blackberry, or similar device while 

driving... (Texting)

96.2

•	 Televisions and video monitors in cars should be allowed to be mounted in a way that they are visible to drivers of 

OTHER cars... (In-vehicle monitors)

86.2

•	 Drivers of motor vehicles should be allowed to talk on a hand-held cell phone while driving... (Hand-held phone) 80.0

•	 Drivers of motor vehicles should be allowed to eat while driving... (Eating) 61.6

•	 Drivers of motor vehicles should be allowed to talk on a cell phone using a hands-free device while driving... 

(Hands-free device)

38.9

•	 Controls on new cars should be mounted on the steering wheel so that drivers do not have to reach across to operate 

the radio or other audio player... (Mounted controls)

27.8

NOTE: The data in this figure are based on combining survey responses of “somewhat disagree” and “strongly disagree” categories for each item

shown. Labels in italics used inside table 1 will be used in all subsequent graphics/text to identify distracted driving items.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Omnibus 

Household Survey, at http://www.bts.gov/programs/omnibus_surveys/household_survey/

Table 2: Percent of Respondents Disagreeing With Distracted Driving Behavior, by Age – October 2009

Hand-Held Phone Hands-Free Phone Texting Eating Mounted Controls In-Vehicle Monitors

18-34 70.81 22.36 93.36 52.55 13.64 74.92

35-49 77.88 34.15 97.22 55.38 31.45 88.91

50-64 82.67 40.29 96.06 61.69 33.39 92.37

65+ 81.42 65.23 98.37 81.28 31.87 88.10

NOTE: The percentages in this table are based on combining both the “somewhat disagree” and “strongly disagree” categories to determine the 

overall percentage of respondents who disagree with each distracted driving item.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Omnibus 

Household Survey, at http://www.bts.gov/programs/omnibus_surveys/household_survey/ 
BTS Special Report

4

ists in the lower income groups, and opposition decreases 

as income levels rise. Opinions on texting while driving is 

consistent across income groups, with less than a 5 percent

difference between the income group reporting the least 

opposition ($75,000 – $125,000; 93.57 percent) and the

group reporting the highest level of disagreement ($30,000 

– $75,000; 97.97 percent).

While the survey found that the majority of participants were 

against texting while driving, a 2011 NHTSA study showed 

that the percentage of drivers (during daylight hours) who 

were texting while driving increased significantly from 0.6

percent in 2009 to 0.9 percent in 2010. During the same 

time period, driver hand-held cell phone use remained unchanged at 5 percent.7

 This percent translates into 660,000 

vehicles being driven by people using hand-held cell phones 

at a typical daylight moment. A 2012 study by Bridgestone 

found that one-third of surveyed individuals (2,000 young 

drivers age 15-21) read text messages while driving. A

quarter of these individuals did not believe that talking on 

the phone while driving is dangerous.8

Eating While Driving

While the dangers of eating while driving are not as publicized as those of cell phone use, in 2010 eating behind the 

wheel contributed to 2.4 percent of fatal crashes involving 

7

 “Driver Electronic Device Use in 2010”, NHTSA, December 2011 

(Refer to: http://distraction.gov/download/research-pdf/8052_TSF_RN_

DriverElectronicDeviceUse_1206111_v4_tag.pdf)

8

 “No Accidents? No Tickets? No Problem! Nationwide Survey Finds Teens in Denial 

About Safety on the Road” Bridgestone News Release, April 24, 2012 (Refer to: 

http://www.teensdrivesmart.com/assets/downloads/SurveyRelease.pdf)

a distraction.9 In the 2009 OHS, more than three out of five

respondents (61.6 percent) reported that they did not think 

drivers should be allowed to eat while driving (see table 1). 

Figure 4 compares the percent of respondents who strongly 

or somewhat disagree with allowing eating while driving by 

income and age group. Opposition to eating while driving was greatest among income groups earning less than 

$30,000 per year, at 74 percent. As seen in figure 4, opposition decreased as the income level increased. With regards 

to age, opposition increases with the age of the respondent. 

Respondents’ disapproval to eating while driving increases 

by nearly 11 percent between the youngest and eldest age 

groupings.

Mounted Controls 

As shown in table 1, 72 percent agreed that “controls on 

new cars should be mounted on the steering wheel so that 

drivers do not have to reach across to operate the radio or 

other audio player.” Only 14 percent of persons aged 18–34

opposed the presence of mounted controls on the steering 

wheel, compared to 32 percent (on average) of individuals 

aged 35 and older. In February 2012, NHTSA proposed

guidelines recommending that all vehicle device functions 

be operable by the driver using, at most, one of the driver’s 

hands in order to be considered suitable for performance 

while driving.10

9 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System,

http://www.nhtsa.gov/FARS.

10 “Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle Electronic 

Devices”, NHTSA, February 24, 2012( Refer to: https://www.federalregister.gov/

articles/2012/02/24/2012-4017/visual-manual-nhtsa-driver-distraction-guidelines-forin-vehicle-electronic-devices#h-43)

Figure 2: Percent of Respondents Who 

Disagree With Cell Phone Use While Driving – 

by Age, October 2009

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 Percent

Hand-Held Phone Hands-Free Phone Texting

18–34

35–49

50–64

65 +

NOTE: The data in this figure combine the “somewhat disagree” and

“strongly disagree” categories to determine the overall percentage of 

respondents who disagree with each distracted driving item.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative 

Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Omnibus Household Survey, at http://www.bts.gov/programs/omnibus_surveys/household_survey/

Figure 3: Percent of Respondents Who 

Disagree With Cell Phone Use While Driving – 

by Income, October 2009

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 Percent

Hand-Held Phone Hands-Free Phone Texting

Under 30,000

30,000 –75,000

75,000 –125,000

125,000 +

NOTE: The data in this figure combine the “somewhat disagree” and

“strongly disagree” categories to determine the overall percentage of 

respondents who disagree with each distracted driving item.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative 

Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Omnibus Household Survey, at http://www.bts.gov/programs/omnibus_surveys/household_survey/
BTS Special Report

5

In-Vehicle Monitors

Approximately 86 percent of respondents thought that 

in-vehicle monitors (e.g., television and video monitors) 

should not be mounted so that they were visible to other 

drivers (see table 1). As age increases, persons are more 

likely to think that in-vehicle monitors distract other drivers.

Persons aged 50–64 were most likely to concur (92 percent) with 85 percent of those individuals strongly disagreeing that visible monitors should be allowed (see table 2). 

The analysis presented in this report examined public perception on select distracted driving behavior as defined in

the 2009 OHS. Future research is needed to examine the 

relationship between public perception of the risks and driver behavior. While this report shows that the majority of the 

public thought that driving while using a cell phone should 

not be allowed, it is a common activity while driving11 and a 

potential precursor to fatal crashes. NHTSA estimates that 

16 percent of all fatal and 20 percent of all injury crashes in 

2009 involved driver distraction. Of the fatal crashes that involved driver distraction, 995 (18 percent) involved reports

of a cell phone as a distraction.12

11 According to M. Madden and L. Rainie (2010), 61 percent of adults have talked on 

a cell phone while driving and 44 percent of all adults say they have been in a car 

when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger. 

See http://distraction.gov/research/PDF-Files/Adults-Cellphone-Distractions.pdf for 

more information.

12 “Distracted Driving 2009”, NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts, 2010 (Refer to: http://www.

distraction.gov/research/PDF-Files/Distracted-Driving-2009.pdf)

Figure 4: Percent of Respondents Who Disagree With Eating While Driving – by Income and Age, 

October 2009

18–34 35–49 50–64 65+

0

20

40

60

80

100

Age

< 30k 30–75k 75–125k > 125k

0

20

40

60

80

100

Income

NOTE: The data in this figure combine the “somewhat disagree” and “strongly disagree” categories to determine the overall percentage of respondents who disagree with each distracted driving item.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Omnibus 

Household Survey, at http://www.bts.gov/programs/omnibus_surveys/household_survey/

About This Report

This report was prepared by Jenny Guarino, a Mathematical Statistician in 

the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). BTS is a component of the 

U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology 

Administration (RITA). Special thanks to Pheny Weidman, Ph.D., a former 

Survey Statistician at BTS for her rigorous reviews and assistance on this 

report and to Dominic Menegus, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 

Analyst in BTS, for his assistance creating the map.

This special report presents some of the key findings from the BTS Omnibus Household Survey (OHS) conducted in October 2009. The OHS is 

conducted annually to obtain information on how American’s use and view 

the transportation system in this country. In 2009 questions related to livability characteristics and distracted driving were introduced to the survey.

For copies of this BTS Special Report or questions about this fact sheet 

or other BTS reports, call 1-800-853-1351, e-mail ritainfo@dot.gov, or visit 

http://www.bts.gov.

Data 

This special report is based on the October 2009 Omnibus Household 

Survey results:

• http://www.bts.gov/programs/omnibus_surveys/household_survey/

Publications 

•	 Public Perceptions on Characteristics of Livable Communities: The

2009 Omnibus Household Survey, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

May 2011 

•	 OmniStats — November 2001 - October 2005.

•	 Making Connections: Intermodal Links Available at 70 Percent of all

Stations Served by Commuter Rail, 2010, Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics, January 2010

•	 Making Connections: Intermodal Links Between Scheduled Passenger

Ferries and Other Public Transportation Modes, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, February 2009

•	 Making Connections: Intermodal Links in the Public Transportation

System, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, September 2007.