A majority of teenagers say they’re against texting behind the wheel but don’t always practice what they preach
According to a national survey by State Farm and Harris Interactive, for many teens, the attitude around texting while driving may still be “do as I say – not as I do.”
While a passenger in a car, nearly four in five teens (78 percent ) said they spoke up and pointed out a driver’s distracted behavior. Once raising the issue, 84 percent said the driver listened and stopped driving distracted.
“When I’m in a car with my friends or family, I say, ‘Hey, don’t do that. I’ll text for you.’ I’m the designated texter,” 18-year old Pennsylvania native, Navea Frazier, told the survey. “They always stop driving distracted. You never know what can happen in the blink of an eye. Texting doesn’t just endanger the driver but the passengers and the cars around you too.”
Of the nearly one in five teens (16 percent ) who did not point out the distracted behavior, almost half (48 percent ) stated they felt the driver could handle the distraction so they did not speak up.
The survey also indicated that while the majority of teens tell others not to text and drive, about a third still engage in the behavior themselves. In the survey, 34 percent indicated they had engaged in texting while driving.
“It was very promising to see so many teens voice their concerns about this issue and see that the drivers listened to them and took action,” Chris Mullen, Director of Technology Research at State Farm, said in a statement. “Research tells us that texting while driving can be just as dangerous as drinking and driving. More education and conversations need to occur so teens understand that no one can handle driving distracted.”
In the survey, 54 percent of teens say they have or will get their driver’s license within one month of being eligible to drive while 43 percent said they would wait slightly, getting their license within two or more months of being eligible.
Of those that said they would wait more than one month, teen girls were more than twice as likely as teen boys to state their reason as not believing their driving skills were proficient enough to get full licensure.
“I was so busy with school, I wanted to make sure I learned enough and felt confident enough to drive by myself that I waited almost two years before I got my permit,” Frazier said. “My parents and I made sure we practiced driving a lot, in a lot of different situations. I felt I was prepared for the responsibility of driving when I turned 18 and I got my license on the first try; a lot of kids don’t because they didn’t prepare and practice enough.”
According to the survey, approximately three out of four teens do not expect to get into a crash during their first year of driving, despite research stating the first year is by far the most dangerous. More than half of these teens strongly disagree they will get into a car crash – a mindset that concerns many teen driver safety advocates because new drivers often lack a complete set of driving skills as novice drivers.
“State Farm has conducted research with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia ® that revealed a lack of awareness regarding the high crash risk for novice drivers,” Mullen said. “Most teen drivers agree inexperience makes them less safe as drivers. It’s equally important to understand that getting a driver’s license, while an important milestone, does not make one ‘experienced’. There is still much to learn on the road to being a safe driver. Research by the Center for Disease Control and others have shown that the first year on the road is the most dangerous for teens – so extra care is warranted”.
