Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
By Conor Shine (contact) 
Friday, Oct. 19, 2012 | 3:46 p.m.
Nevada drivers are putting down their cell phones and focusing on the road more, thanks in part to a ban on texting or talking on the phone while driving instituted in 2011, according to a study released Friday by the state’s Office of Traffic Safety.
About a fourth of drivers surveyed said they talked on the phone while driving, and another 13 percent said they sent text messages or emails while driving.
About 26 percent of drivers said they drove while distracted – which included using a cell phone, eating or adjusting controls in the car – less often. Nearly half of those respondents credited the decrease to the new law, which bans the use of cell phones while driving.
The study, conducted by UNR’s Center for Research Design and Analysis, surveyed more than 800 people between March and July. Each respondent was asked to answer nine questions on driving habits, ranging from how often they speed to how often they wear a seatbelt.
The survey showed a 7 percent increase in seatbelt usage, with nine of 10 drivers reporting they always use a seatbelt.
Drivers reported speeding less on the highway compared to a year ago, but more drivers said they regularly exceeded the speed limit by at least 5 mph.
According to the Office of Traffic Safety, the survey was meant to collect data on driving habits to help when considering law or policy changes or when designing new public awareness campaigns.
Luckily you can still eat, hold an animal, put on makeup and listen to headphones while you drive. Dumb law.
hahaha Dumb law? don't you think banning the instances you mention as well would make it a smart law?Personally hahaha, I don't want to be injured by some stupid freak who can't wait to yak on a phone. Vegas drivers are not the best anyway (check insurance rates)let alone driving with a phone in their ear.
I was happy when that law passed so I could tell my employer "Sorry, I don't answer my phone in the car. It's illegal."
I almost caused an accident once because I was distracted by a phone call. That was the last time. After that, I pulled over and parked if I needed to take a call.
"Luckily you can still eat, hold an animal, put on makeup and listen to headphones while you drive. Dumb law."
hahaha -- I'm with you on this one.
"hahaha Dumb law? don't you think banning the instances you mention as well would make it a smart law?"
billykydd -- banning accomplishes nothing but extra revenue from the tickets and the $1k bail Mr. Shine didn't mention. Some people can handle minor distractions while driving, some can't. But according to your thinking the entire Strip and all the billboards will need to be banned as well.
"Fear is the foundation of most governments." - John Adams "Thoughts on Government" (1776)
It's a good law. You've already got too many awful drivers in this town. Fine them into misery until they get the message.
Right killerB as long as it's not you or a family member that's killed, it's OK. Your type of thinking makes me puke. I truly hate self centered people like you and really am thankful I don't associate with narrow minded (get under the bed the commies are coming) types like you.
"Your type of thinking makes me puke."
billykydd -- good
"It behoves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others; or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own." -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Benjamin Rush, April 21, 1803