Here's How Many Teens Text While Driving In Maryland

MARYLAND — A new study found that nearly four in 10 high school students text while driving. Research published in the Journal of Adolescent Health this week indicates 38 percent of high schoolers said they were guilty of engaging in the distracting activity.

Maryland teens fared a bit better. In fact, based on the study, Maryland is home to teens least likely to be texting while behind the wheel.

The prevalence of teens texting while driving varied across states, ranging from a low of 26 percent in Maryland to a high of 64 percent in South Dakota.

It was higher in states that had lower minimum learner's permit ages as well as in states where a larger percentage of students drove, researchers said.

In South Dakota, you have to be 14 to get a learner's permit.

In Maryland, you have to be 15 years and 9 months old to get a learner’s permit, and anyone younger than 18 is prohibited from using wireless communication devices while driving, a safety law that applies to those of all ages who have learners permits and provisional licenses too.

Here are the states where the most teens text while driving, according to the study:

1. South Dakota, 64 percent
2. North Dakota, 58 percent
3. Montana, 55 percent
4. Wyoming, 52 percent
5. Nebraska, 50 percent
6. Idaho, 49 percent
7. Missouri, 47 percent
8. Rhode Island, 45 percent
9. New Hampshire, Indiana and Oklahoma, 44 percent

Here are the states where texting while driving among teens is the least prevalent:

1. Maryland, 26 percent
2. New York, 30 percent
3. Connecticut, 30 percent
4. Virginia, 31 percent
5. California, 32 percent

Researchers analyzed data from the 35 states that gave out the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey in putting together their report. More than 100,000 students who were at least 14 years old and had driven in the last month took the survey, which asked specifically about texting and emailing and did not look at other ways teens use cellphones while driving, including making phone calls, fiddling with social media and playing music. The actual numbers could also be even higher, analysts added, since the data was self reported.

Based on their findings, the researchers said the likelihood of teens texting and driving increased “substantially" with age, and white students were more likely to do it than their peers of all other races and ethnicities. Kids who don’t regularly use seat belts were 21 percent more likely to text while driving, and students who said they drink and drive were nearly twice as likely.

“Older age, white race/ethnicity, and other risky driving behaviors were associated with TWD,” the authors found, referring to texting while driving.

When drivers are distracted, they can unknowingly drift into dangerous behavior such as driving in more than one lane, following too closely or not slowing down to avoid a crash, according to police.

More than 31,100 people are injured each year in crashes in Maryland annually because of distracted driving, according to Maryland State Police.

"Jake's Law," which took effect in 2014, calls for a $5,000 fine and up to three years in prison for drivers who cause a serious or fatal crash while using a cellphone.

Most states have tried to curb the pervasive problem through various laws. The District of Columbia and 38 states have enacted laws restricting all cellphone use while driving for new drivers. Texting while driving is outright banned for all drivers in 47 states and the District of Columbia, including in Maryland.

But how effective those laws are remains unclear at best, the study noted. Enforcement is a major undertaking, and a recent literature review found that the laws appeared to have no long-term effect on preventing new drivers from using cellphones.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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