Targeting inexperienced motorists, several states have passed laws during the past five years restricting cell phone use by teenage drivers.
But an insurance industry study being released Monday that looked at whether teens are ignoring such restrictions contends enforcement and parental influence are just as important as new laws.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety studied North Carolinas law, enacted in 2006, which fines motorists under age 18 who are caught using a cell phone.
Researchers who watched as high school students left school found that teenage drivers used their cell phones at about the same rate both before and after the law took effect. In South Carolina, which does not have a similar restriction, cell phone use by teenage drivers was about the same for both periods studied.

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