Distracted Driving: Teens Know it's Risky, But 53 Percent Do It Anyway

Teens are well aware that it's dangerous to text while driving, but they do it anyway, a newly released survey shows.

According to a 2011 teen driving study by Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), more than half (53 percent) of the 2,294 high school students surveyed say they text while they drive at least sometimes, and 28 percent admit doing so often or very often.

But 59 percent also said texting was the most distracting thing you can do while driving -- up from 38 percent who felt that way in 2008.

All told, 3,883 teen drivers ages 15 to 19 were involved in fatal crashes in 2009, and 15 percent were distracted at the time of the crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The distractions ranged from texting and talking on a cell phone to eating or playing with a radio, CD player, or MP3 device.

Strongsville Patch reported last week that police here are who text and take other risky actions behind the wheel.

Police Chief Charles Goss said officers are using an existing law requiring "full time and attention" to driving.

And to try to cut down on collisions, Strongsville officers are trying to focus on some "non-traditional tickets" -- for things like following too close, inappropriate lane changes, driver inattention and causing gridlock by pulling into an intersection that isn't clear and blocking it when the light changes.

"We're looking at things that aren't traditionally enforced," Goss said. 

Distracted Driving Findings

• 20 percent of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. (NHTSA).
• Of those killed in distracted-driving-related crashed, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). (NHTSA)
• Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
• Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)

Teen Driving Study by Liberty Mutual/SADD

• For some young drivers, text messaging occurs at alarmingly high levels.  More than 40 percent of teens who text while driving send more than 10 messages from behind the wheel each day. Nearly one in 10 teens text 50 or more messages daily while driving. 
• Who are they texting? Teens are increasingly likely to text mom and dad:  63 percent in the 2011 study vs. 55 percent in 2009.  Friends remain the most popular recipients of text messages, yet at a decreasing rate: 70 percent in 2011 vs. 80 percent in 2009.
• What are they texting? Some 59 percent of teens say they are texting their parents about where they are.

“While it’s important for parents to know where their children are and what they are doing, they need to take a firm stance against texting while driving and other distracted driving behaviors,” Stephen Wallace, Senior Advisor for Policy, Research, and Education at SADD, said in a news release.

Not Just Texting

The Liberty Mutual/SADD study revealed that teens at least sometimes use these technologies while driving:

• 73 percent change songs on their iPod or MP3 player
• 67 percent talk on a cell phone
• 13 percent use their cell phone to access the Internet
• 13 percent update their Facebook status or MySpace account from their cell phones
• 10 percent take pictures or videos with their cell phones
• 4 percent use an iPad or tablet PC