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A New Form Of Wmd?: Driving With Mobile Devices And Other Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Linda C. Fentiman
A New Form Of Wmd?: Driving With Mobile Devices And Other Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Linda C. Fentiman
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This article explores what the legal, sociological, and scientific literature tells us about risky behavior and what the law can – and can’t - do about it. The article focuses on cell phone use – and the push to regulate it - as a parable about the limits of the law in regulating two things which Americans love – advanced technology and the freedom to drive. The article examines the risks – real and perceived – of motorists who drive while using their cell phones to talk or text, providing a scientifically grounded framework to analyze current and proposed laws …
Mobile Phones And Crime Deterrence: An Underappreciated Link, Jonathan Klick, John Macdonald, Thomas Stratmann
Mobile Phones And Crime Deterrence: An Underappreciated Link, Jonathan Klick, John Macdonald, Thomas Stratmann
All Faculty Scholarship
Between 1991 and 2001, crime rates dropped by about a third across all crime categories. We suggest that the introduction and growth of mobile phone technology may have contributed to the crime decline in the 1990s, specifically in the areas of rape and assault. Given that mobile phones increase surveillance and the risks of apprehension when committing crimes against strangers, an expansion of this technology would increase the costs of crime as perceived by forward-looking criminals. We use the available mobile phone data to show that there is a strongly negative association between mobile phones and violent crimes, although data …