Here's How Many Teens Text While Driving In Virginia: Study

VIRGINIA — 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.

Virginia fared a bit better, with 31 percent reporting they texted 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 Virginia, you have to be 15 years and 6 months old to get a learner's permit.

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 the least teens text while driving:

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 to put their report together. 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.

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.

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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