Car crash ER visits fell in states that ban texting while driving, study says

(CNN) States with bans on texting while driving saw an average 4% reduction in emergency department visits after motor vehicle crashes, an equivalent of 1,632 traffic-related emergency department visits per year, according to a new analysis.

Researchers examined emergency department data across 16 US states between 2007 and 2014. The states were picked based on the availability of information regarding motor vehicle accident injuries for which emergency department treatment was needed.

In the United States, 47 out of 50 states currently have laws restricting texting while driving. Of the 16 states researchers looked at in the study, all but one (Arizona) had one of these laws.

Texting-while-driving bans are either primary laws, meaning drivers can be pulled over for texting regardless of whether another traffic violation took place, or secondary laws, in which drivers are sanctioned for texting only after another violation like speeding or running a red light took place. Some states implement the bans on all drivers, while others sanction only new drivers.

The states that had texting bans, regardless of the type or who it applied to, saw a 4% average reduction in emergency department visits, according to the results published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health . The states that chose to implement primary bans on all drivers saw an 8% reduction in crash-related injuries.