The effect of cell phones on international motor vehicle fatality rates: A panel-data analysis

•This study analyzed determinants of international motor vehicle fatality rates.•An econometric model included cell phone usage and economic freedom.•Cell phone usage has both life-saving and life-taking effects.•Economic freedom does not appear to influence international death rates.

This paper analyzes the effects of cell phone usage and economic freedom on motor vehicle death rates by estimating regression models on data for three years across 38 countries. The models incorporate a representative set of motor vehicle fatality determinants. Results indicate that cell phone use has a statistically significant nonlinear impact on highway death rates and that economic freedom does not appear to have an effect.