Episode 334: 333. Cell Phone Use While Driving and Financial Gain

Feedback and Financial Incentives for Reducing Cell Phone Use While Driving: A Randomized Clinical Trial | Public Health | JAMA Network Open | JAMA Network

Question Can behavioral interventions decrease handheld cell phone–based driver distraction?

17663 and ended up with 2020 participants

Progressive email--- already a select population

Outcome-- Proportion of drive time engaged in handheld phone use in seconds per hour (s/h) of driving.

Median baseline handheld phone use was 216 (IQR, 72-480) s/h.

Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 trial arms for a 7-week intervention period: (1) control; (2) feedback, with weekly push notification about their handheld phone use compared with that of similar others; (3) standard incentive, with a maximum $50 award at the end of the intervention based on how their handheld phone use compared with similar others; (4) standard incentive plus feedback, combining interventions of arms 2 and 3; (5) reframed incentive plus feedback, with a maximum $7.15 award each week, framed as participant’s to lose; and (6) doubled reframed incentive plus feedback, a maximum $14.29 weekly loss-framed award.

standard incentive, with a maximum $50 award at the end of the intervention based on how their handheld phone use compared with similar others---- reduced their use by −38 (95% CI, −69 to −8) s/h (P = .045);

reframed incentive plus feedback, with a maximum $7.15 award each week, framed as participant’s to lose; and (-----reframed incentive plus feedback participants reduced their use by −56 (95% CI, −87 to −26) s/h (P < .001);

doubled reframed incentive plus feedback, a maximum $14.29 ($100) weekly loss-framed award.

and doubled reframed incentive plus feedback participants reduced their use by −42 s/h (95% CI, −72 to −13 s/h; P = .007).

remember

Median baseline handheld phone use was 216 (IQR, 72-480) s/h.

Their consclusions

Findings In this randomized clinical trial with 2020 participating auto insurance customers, the median baseline level of handheld phone while driving was 216 seconds per hour. Those randomized to interventions combining social comparison feedback and financial incentives reduced their handheld phone use while driving by 15% to 21% relative to the control group.