A Perelman School of Medicine study, led by M. Kit Delgado, MD, MS, faculty director of Penn Medicine’s Nudge Unit and an associate professor of Emergency Medicine and Epidemiology, found that cash incentives paired with feedback can significantly reduce handheld phone use while driving. Drivers were offered up to $50 for reducing phone usage, but when told they’d lose money for using their phones, phone use dropped by 21%. This loss aversion strategy, based on behavioral science, highlights the potential for scalable interventions in combating distracted driving.
“In the United States, there are over 800,000 crashes per year due to distracted driving, with cell phone use while driving being a leading cause. This occurs despite numerous laws banning handheld phone use, suggesting additional scalable interventions are needed,” said Dr. Delgado. “We were able to use the power of humans’ natural aversion to loss and regret, as well as our desire to fit in to social norms, to achieve some significant results.”
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