Way to Safety Cellphone Blocking

Overview

Research participants will be recruited to take part in a randomized control trial. Participants' cellphone use will be observed during an initial baseline period. Participants will then be randomly assigned to one of four conditions: education only (control), opt-in blocking, opt-out blocking, and opt-out blocking with parental notification.

Full Title of Study: “Way to Safety: Cellphone Blocking Technology to Reduce Cellphone Use While Driving Among Teens”

Study Type

  • Study Type: Interventional
  • Study Design
    • Allocation: Randomized
    • Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
    • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
    • Masking: None (Open Label)
  • Study Primary Completion Date: March 24, 2017

Detailed Description

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in teens in the United State and for drivers aged 15-19 involved in fatal crashes, 21% of distracted drivers were distracted by the use of cellphones. Nearly 90% of teens expect a response to a text message within 5 minutes, and the compulsion to respond is stronger for messages from close social contacts. This suggests that behavioral-economic interventions such as immediate and frequent incentives are needed to offset the disutility caused by not being able to communicate by cellphone while driving. If proven to be effective, incentives could be scaled up via auto insurance discount contributions, school programs, and parental contributions.

Interventions

  • Device: Cellcontrol DriveID
    • Technology that blocks incoming and outgoing calls and texts.
  • Other: Education Only
    • No active intervention, educational materials will be provided

Arms, Groups and Cohorts

  • Placebo Comparator: Education Only (Control)
    • The Cellcontrol DriveID device will run completely in the background with no observable changes to cellphone functions while driving. During Week Four, participants will be presented educational materials on the dangers of distracted driving.
  • Experimental: Opt-in Blocking
    • Participants will have to initiate Cellcontrol DriveID device when entering the vehicle; the blocking settings will be pre-set to block all calls and text messages when the car is in motion.
  • Experimental: Opt-out Blocking
    • Cellcontrol DriveID device will automatically turn on when the teen begins driving and will be pre-set to block all calls and text messages when the car is in motion.
  • Experimental: Opt-out Blocking with Notification
    • Cellcontrol DriveID device will automatically turn on when the teen begins driving and will be pre-set to block all calls and text messages when the car is in motion. If a participant overrides the blocking function, an email will be sent to a parent/guardian.

Clinical Trial Outcome Measures

Primary Measures

  • Change in Frequency of Cellphone Unlocks
    • Time Frame: 6 weeks
    • Change in number of phone unlocks per hour of drive time between intervention period (last 3 weeks) vs. baseline period (last 3 weeks)

Participating in This Clinical Trial

Inclusion Criteria

1. High school student 2. 16 or 17 at start of the study 3. Have a valid driver's license 4. Lives in parent's/guardian's home 5. Drives to school 6. Primarily drive one car 7. Has their own iPhone 4S or newer or Android 4.3 or newer smartphone with data plan 8. Parent/guardian is willing to assist with installation 9. Admit to texting while driving >1 time in the last 30 days Exclusion Criteria:

1. Already uses a smartphone app or hardware device to limit cellphone use while driving

Gender Eligibility: All

Minimum Age: 16 Years

Maximum Age: 17 Years

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Investigator Details

  • Lead Sponsor
    • Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
  • Collaborator
    • University of Pennsylvania
  • Provider of Information About this Clinical Study
    • Sponsor
  • Overall Official(s)
    • Catherine McDonald, PhD, RN, Principal Investigator, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Clinical trials entries are delivered from the US National Institutes of Health and are not reviewed separately by this site. Please see the identifier information above for retrieving further details from the government database.

At TrialBulletin.com, we keep tabs on over 200,000 clinical trials in the US and abroad, using medical data supplied directly by the US National Institutes of Health. Please see the About and Contact page for details.