Unpicking 'safety' and 'legality' in deterring phone-use by drivers: The dangers of being distracted by the law

Increasing numbers of drivers admit to both legal and illegal phone-use which negatively impacts road safety and presents a significant challenge to policy makers and law enforcement. This paper considers the mismatch between legality and safety in the context of distracted driving, presenting a critical commentary of current phone-use laws which, by relating only to handheld use, serve to promote a legal, yet also unsafe, alternative source of distraction. Within this policy and practice review paper, we refer to academic literature and research findings on deterrence via both instrumental and normative approaches, focusing on the law, research on attitude and behaviour change, applying them to the issue of phone-use by drivers and considering their associated policy implications. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour, we explore how safety interventions could meaningfully deter phone-use. We propose that an evidence-based approach to deterrence, via enforcement, education and engineering is required, with interventions segmented according to driver profiles. We offer suggestions for future research and recommendations for deterrence via a balanced approach between instrumental and normative influences.