Cell phone-related driver distraction: Habits predict behavior over and above the theory of planned behavior variables

•Mobile phone use while driving is a major road safety problem.•We report a survey study on this behavior conducted with 1,016 Chinese respondents.•Self-reported phone use while driving and associated constructs do not differ in urban vs. rural driving environments.•Habits have direct and indirect associations with phone use while driving.•Habits are strongly associated with subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. Habits have often been overlooked in studies investigating cell phone-related driver distractions. This paper examines the association between habits and cell phone-related driver distractions within a mediation model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Additionally, it explores potential differences in behaviors across urban and rural driving environments and between males and females. We conducted an online survey in China with 1,016 respondents, measuring attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, self-reported behavior, and habits associated with cell phone use while driving. Data was analyzed using a two-stage structural equation modeling approach. Results indicate that the measurement model provided a good fit to the data and was invariant across urban and rural driving environments, as well as across genders. The latent path model investigating mediation also demonstrated a good fit and revealed that TPB variables (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) partially mediated the relationship between cell phone-related habits and cell phone use while driving. The structural model was invariant across driving environments but not across genders, for which the extent of the differences were limited. Moreover, habits were strongly associated with subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, emerging as the strongest predictor of cell phone-related distractions. The findings suggest that habits should be considered in research on phone-related distracted driving behaviors and in the development of intervention designs.