Distracted driving is estimated to be responsible for almost one million car accidents per year, including more than 400,000 injuries and 3,000 deaths. One of the major sources of driver distraction is handheld phone use.

A new study led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that making a game out of reducing handheld phone use motivated drivers. The reduction in handheld phone use continued even after the study intervention was over.

Looking for a way to get drivers to put down their phones and use a hands-free phone mount when behind the wheel, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania tried making a game out it.

Drivers traveling on a highway at 55 mph who take their eyes off the road for five seconds to check their phone are essentially driving the length of a football field with their eyes closed.

It worked: they found that using a game to challenge drivers motivated them to use a hands-free phone mount. The reduction in handheld phone use continued even after the study intervention was over.

“This tells me that a lot of people wanted to become safer, more focused drivers,” Jeffrey Ebert, lead author on the study, told TheDoctor.

Most people know handheld phone use while driving is risky, but they may not realize how risky it is. Giving participants information about the risks of using a phone while driving made it clear to them. “For example, if drivers are traveling on a highway at 55 mph and take their eyes off the road for five seconds to check their phone,” Ebert explained, “it is the equivalent of driving the length of a football field with their eyes closed.”

The study enrolled more than 1,650 customers between 18 and 77 years old in the Snapshot usage-based auto insurance program from Progressive Auto Insurance who often used their phones while driving.

Records indicated that participants had had about two minutes per hour of handheld phone use while driving in the month prior to the study, though the average baseline for handheld use among the group was 6.5 minutes per hour.

People in the study were randomly assigned to one of five groups for the ten-week study period:

  • Group 1 served as the control group and, along with the other four groups, got education about the dangers of handheld phone use while driving.
  • Group 2 also got a hands-free phone mount for their car.
  • Group 3 got the phone mount, an exercise to help them commit to safer driving and tips for hands-free phone use.
  • Group 4 got the phone mount, commitment exercise, tips for hands-free phone use and gamification: the ability to earn or lose points and move up or down by levels. They also took part in a competition against similar drivers to see who could engage in handheld phone use the least.
  • Group 5 got all this, plus financial incentives for meeting handsfree driving goals.

By the end of the study, Group 5 reduced their handheld phone use by 28 percent relative to the control group. They were able to maintain this change in behavior for up to 65 days after the game and incentives were over.

Group 4 reduced their handheld phone use by almost 21 percent and kept their use down by 16 percent after their game ended.

Their practice with handsfree driving during the study enabled participants to keep their phone use down, Ebert said. By the end of the study period, participants were left with a choice: keep up the safer driving or revert to their old habits.

Most people chose to stay safe. As Ebert, the director of applied behavioral science at The Center for Health Care Transformation and Innovation at Penn Medicine, explained, “Giving people at least ten weeks of practice will help them solidify new behaviors such as avoiding handheld phone use while driving.”

The researchers hope next to see whether interventions like this are applicable to other safe driving habits such as wearing seat belts and adhering to speed limits.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.