Novice drivers could be pursued with financial incentives to stop texting while driving

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania come to this conclusion in collaboration with experts from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Novice drivers who admit to regularly texting at the wheel could be persuaded with financial incentives to reduce cell phone use in the car. Attractive would be car insurance apps, which monitor the driving behavior and reward a renunciation of the smartphone with discounts. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania come to this conclusion in collaboration with experts from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

"More than half of teens in the United States admit to texting while driving, which has become a major public health problem that leads to avoidable deaths and physical disabilities," says study author Kit Delgado. While the study found that more than 90 percent of the 153 teenagers surveyed said they were willing to give up text messaging while driving, almost half said they had control over features such as music and navigation behind it Want to keep the tax.

Researchers invited respondents to consider various possible strategies or factors that could prevent them from using their smartphone while driving or writing text messages. Most teenagers thought that financial incentives would be "very effective" for them. 54 percent also said that an automatic phone lock would work well while driving. With such a lock, the smartphone would be completely unusable as soon as a corresponding app detects that it is in the car.

Overall, the results of the survey suggest that teens may want to have some kind of "driving mode app" or phone setting that automatically blocks or restricts text and call features in the car, while still allowing navigation and music features - especially in combination with one financial incentive. "One way would be to offer teenagers discounts on vehicle insurance based on actual mileage and phone usage," concluded Delgado.