A significant study focused on reducing distracted driving indicated that gamified approaches led to a lasting decrease in the use of handheld phones by drivers.
According to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and conducted by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, turning the prevention of phone use while driving into a game may be the key. By allowing drivers to earn points for reducing their use of handheld phones and compete on a weekly leaderboard, researchers observed a reduction of up to 28 percent in such phone use while driving. This positive change persisted even after the games and interventions concluded.
“Distracted driving leads to nearly 1 million accidents annually in the United States. Programs like this could help lower that figure,” stated Dr. Jeffrey Ebert, the study’s lead author and director of applied behavioral science at the Nudge Unit, which is part of Penn Medicine’s Center for Health Care Transformation & Innovation.
Earlier studies led by Ebert and Dr. M. Kit Delgado, senior author of this research and an associate professor of Emergency Medicine, showed that combining strategies such as weekly feedback and financial rewards could significantly reduce the time drivers spend using their phones—up to 21 percent. However, these reductions diminished over time after the programs ended.
Moreover, Ebert, Delgado, and their team observed that those drivers who used their phones the most did not change their habits in the previous study. Since only safer drivers could receive feedback and rewards, it appeared that the heaviest phone users became discouraged when they couldn’t meet their ambitious weekly goals.
“It’s like expecting someone who has never run to immediately complete a marathon,” said Delgado. “Changing habits is challenging.”
With these insights, Ebert and Delgado aimed to test strategies that would facilitate building better habits and reward drivers for incremental progress.
This study, like the last one, recruited participants from Progressive Insurance®’s voluntary “usage-based insurance (UBI)” program, where customers agree to use a smartphone app to track their driving behavior—including phone usage—while being eligible for discounts for safe driving. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four intervention groups or a control group, with all groups receiving a hands-free mount for their phones in the car.
The group that integrated the most strategies, including the points system, a chance to win a prize for achieving enough points, and a leaderboard featuring additional prize money, achieved a noteworthy 28 percent reduction in handheld phone use while driving.
This level of reduction remained consistent in follow-ups up to 65 days after the games and incentives had concluded.
Even for those who did not have access to prize money, there was still a 21 percent reduction in phone time, along with a sustained decline of 16 percent after the game ended.
“This suggests that many individuals genuinely want to become more focused and safer drivers, and this study helped them establish lasting good habits concerning their phone use,” Ebert noted. “With some adjustments to the feedback and incentive systems used in insurance, we believe there could be even greater improvements in driving safety, benefiting insurers, their customers, and society as a whole.”
The context of the study is also promising.
“The fact that we implemented these interventions within an existing auto insurer program indicates that they could be rapidly scaled up, especially since behavior-based auto insurance programs are quickly gaining traction across the U.S. and internationally,” Delgado added.
In the United States, over 800,000 crashes each year, resulting in 400,000 injuries and 3,000 fatalities, are attributed, at least partially, to distracted driving. Approximately 12 percent of all accidents are linked to cell phone use. The likelihood of a crash increases ninefold when drivers use handheld phones. Despite 28 states, including Pennsylvania, enacting laws prohibiting handheld phone usage while driving, enforcing these laws remains a challenge.
This highlights the need for alternative methods to encourage safe driving, and Ebert, Delgado, and their colleagues believe that behavioral science interventions like this offer a viable solution.
“We see this as a proof of concept: When drivers are provided with the knowledge, tools, and feedback necessary for success, they are willing to abandon risky driving behaviors at little or no cost,” Ebert stated.
The researchers are now examining whether their findings can also be applied to other safe driving practices, such as wearing seat belts or maintaining safe speeds.
This research was funded by the Federal Highway Administration Exploratory Advanced Research Program, the National Institutes of Health, the Abramson Family Foundation, and the Progressive Casualty Insurance Company.
