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Table 1 Characteristics of the roadside-observed drivers by hand-held phone status in 2008–2013 National Occupant Protection Use Surveya,b

From: Hand-held cell phone use while driving legislation and observed driver behavior among population sub-groups in the United States

 

Driver not holding phone to ear or driver was using a head set (N = 250,109)

Driver holding phone to ears (N = 13,564)

Total (N = 263,673)

Characteristic

N

(%)b

N

(%)

N

(%)

Age (years)

 16–24

29,799

(11.7)

2289

(16.5)

32,088

(12.0)

 25–69

204,214

(81.8)

11,088

(82.1)

215,302

(81.8)

  > 70

16,096

(6.5)

187

(1.4)

16,283

(6.2)

Sex

 Male

146,201

(59.2)

6383

(47.6)

152,584

(58.6)

 Female

103,908

(40.8)

7181

(52.4)

111,089

(41.4)

Race

 White

202,036

(81.5)

10,777

(80.5)

212,813

(81.4)

 Black

22,361

(8.3)

1673

(11.4)

24,034

(8.4)

 Other

25,712

(10.3)

1114

(8.1)

26,826

(10.2)

Location

 Urban

42,447

(16.7)

2443

(17.6)

44,890

(16.8)

 Suburban

148,174

(57.0)

8205

(59.9)

156,379

(57.1)

 Rural

59,488

(26.3)

2916

(22.5)

62,404

(26.1)

Geographic region

 Northeast

63,736

(21.3)

2873

(16.6)

66,609

(21.1)

 Midwest

57,188

(23.1)

3165

(22.5)

60,353

(23.1)

 South

66,420

(28.5)

4708

(37.1)

71,128

(28.9)

 West

62,765

(27.0)

2818

(23.8)

65,583

(26.9)

Seatbelt use

 Yes

214,358

(85.6)

11,059

(81.6)

225,417

(85.4)

 No

35,751

(14.4)

2505

(18.4)

38,256

(14.6)

Vehicle type

 Passenger car

127,209

(49.6)

6405

(45.5)

133,614

(49.4)

 Pick-up truck

41,094

(17.0)

2237

(17.3)

43,331

(17.0)

 Van & SUV

81,806

(33.4)

4922

(37.2)

86,728

(33.6)

Cell phone subscriptions per 100 residentsc

89

 

88

 

89

 

Hand-held phone ban

 Yes

77,546

(28.3)

2132

(14.5)

79,678

(27.6)

 No

172,563

(71.7)

11,432

(85.5)

183,995

(72.4)

Universal texting ban

 Yes

124,598

(50.8)

5310

(43.4)

129,908

(50.4)

 No

125,511

(49.2)

8254

(56.6)

133,765

(49.6)

Young driver all cell phone ban

 Yes

130,264

(55.4)

6117

(51.0)

136,381

(55.2)

 No

119,845

(44.6)

7447

(49.0)

127,292

(44.8)

Other texting bans

 Yes

3281

(1.7)

225

(1.5)

3506

(1.7)

 No

246,828

(98.3)

13,339

(98.5)

260,167

(98.3)

  1. apercentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding
  2. bpercentage is based on the weighted frequency
  3. cthe average number of cell phone subscribers per 100 residents