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Almost 40% of US teens text while driving
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Among teenagers who reported driving in the last month, 38% said they texted while driving. This behavior, according to research published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, is more likely to occur when teens practice other unsafe driving habits.
“Teen motor vehicle crashes are preventable, and proven strategies can improve the safety of young drivers on the road,” Motao Zhu, MD, MS, PhD, a principal investigator in the Center for Injury Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Research Institute, told Infectious Diseases in Children. “Among distracted driving [behaviors], texting while driving may be especially risky because it involves at least three types of driver distraction: visual, physical and cognitive.”
Zhu mentioned that although texting while driving is banned for all drivers in 47 states and the District of Columbia, this practice is still common among teenagers.
To explore the prevalence of texting while driving, and to see whether certain factors are unique to individuals and the states they live in, the researchers analyzed data from the 2015 state Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
Of the 101,397 students aged 14 years or older who had driven a vehicle in the past 30 days, over one-third had texted while driving at least once (38%). Maryland had the fewest teenagers who reported this behavior (26%), whereas South Dakota had over twice the number of teens reporting that they texted while driving (64%).
According to Zhu and colleagues, states that have younger minimum age requirements to obtain a learner’s permit had a higher rate of texting while driving. Additionally, states with a high percentage of student drivers were more likely to have higher rates of this behavior.
On an individual basis, teens were more likely to text while driving as they aged, if they were white and if they did not use a seatbelt consistently. The researchers wrote that texting and driving was almost twice as common for adolescents who reported drinking and driving.
“Parents have a role to play in keeping teens and other drivers safe on the road. Parents must be a good role model and drive distraction-free,” Zhu said. “They can also set clear rules even after their teen gets his or her license and prohibit cell phone use while driving.” – by Katherine Bortz
Disclosures: Infectious Diseases in Children was unable to confirm relevant financial disclosures prior to publication.
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