A new study by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy concluded that distracted driving laws could actually be doing more harm than good.

Steve LaFleur, an analyst with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, said the trouble is that simply outlawing something doesn’t mean that it won’t happen anymore.

He said in the study they looked at data from four U.S. States which banned texting while driving.

“They found that compared to the other states, they all went up in terms of collision frequencies,” said LaFleur.

He said the frequencies went up more dramatically for people under 25.

“Rather than text normally they’ll just text or call below windshield level which is actually quite a bit more dangerous because it takes their eyes completely off the road,” said LaFleur.

Cell phone driving bans are relatively new in Canada so Canadian data was limited for the study.

LaFleur said he believes part of the reason governments have focused on cell phone bans when dealing with distracted driving is that using a cell phone is easy to spot.

Rather than rescinding the bans LaFleur said he would like to see it replaced with something more enforceable, based on the actual performance of drivers rather then what they’re doing inside their cars.

sfroese@rawlco.com

Follow on Twitter: @StephanieFroese