Arizona must measure whether distracted-driving fines work

Arizona has just raised the price of distracted driving. A second or subsequent violation of the state’s hands-free driving law now carries a $400 civil penalty, up from the previous range of $150 to $250, and a distracted driver who crashes into a motorcycle faces an additional $150 penalty.

I support the tougher consequences because the problem is not theoretical. ADOT says at least 8,151 drivers involved in Arizona crashes in 2025 were engaged in some form of distracted behavior, and the agency cautions that the actual number is probably higher because distraction can be difficult to establish after a crash.

Arizona is not ignoring the problem. ADOT has a longstanding distracted-driving awareness campaign called Distracted Driver Terrify Me. This summer, DPS launched its own five-year Arrive Alive Arizona initiative, and high-visibility enforcement is one of that effort’s central strategies.

That is exactly why the next step should be measurement, not another slogan. We need to see whether the hands-free law itself is changing the behavior it is supposed to deter.

ADOT’s annual Crash Facts report is remarkably detailed about what happens when crashes occur. The most recent full report, covering 2024, breaks distraction into categories such as handheld cellphone use, manually operating an electronic device and other electronic-device activity.

But Crash Facts does not report how many hands-free citations are first offenses; how many involve repeat violations or how often someone cited once is cited again. If the purpose of a higher fine is deterrence, Arizona should track first and repeat violations, track enforcement levels and compare those trends with the distracted-driving crashes and injuries the state already reports.

Citation totals alone can mislead. Fewer tickets could mean drivers are changing their behavior, or simply that enforcement declined; more tickets could mean more violations, or that police were looking harder for them.

Arizona’s existing enforcement framework can help answer the question. During defined distracted-driving emphasis periods under Arrive Alive Arizona, or during the national Put the Phone Away or Pay mobilization, agencies should report how many hands-free citations were issued, how many involved repeat offenders and how those numbers compare with prior periods.

Let’s use the enforcement and public-awareness machinery Arizona already has to determine whether the new penalty is doing what lawmakers intend.

The motorcycle provision makes the same point more directly. An extra $150 after a distracted driver hits a rider is a consequence, but the public-safety goal is to prevent the collision. The public needs to see the enforcement numbers.