Teens Still Text and Drive, Pew Report Says
By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal,11/18/2009
Texting and driving are a dangerous mix, yet one in four American teens of driving age say they’ve texted while driving, and half of all teens ages 12 to 17 say they’ve been a passenger in a car while the driver has texted behind the wheel, say a new report.
“Teens and Distracted Driving” by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project looks at teens, mobile phones, and distracted driving and finds that boys and girls are equally likely to report texting behind the wheel, as well as riding with texting drivers. But as teens get older, they’re more likely to report riding with drivers who text.
“Many teens understand the risks of texting behind the wheel,” says Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at the Internet & American Life Project and coauthor of the report. “But the desire to stay connected is so strong for teens and their parents that safety sometimes takes a backseat to staying in touch with friends and family.”
As early as 2006, and before texting had become popular in the U.S., Pew reported that 28 percent of adult cell phone owners felt their phone had at some point compromised their driving ability and that they sometimes didn’t drive as safely as they should while using mobile devices.
At the time of the 2006 survey, just 35 percent of adult cell phone owners said they used the text messaging feature on their phones. But by April 2009, the use of text messaging by cell phone owners had nearly doubled to 65 percent.
Several states, including California, Connecticut, and Oregon, have passed laws to ban all texting or talking with a handheld phone while driving, and the U.S. Senate is now considering a bill that would provide federal funding to states that enact similar laws.
In September 2009 U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood convened policy makers, safety advocates, law enforcement representatives, and academics to address the risk of text messaging and other “distracted driving” behavior. At the end of the summit, LaHood announced an executive order from President Barack Obama that forbids federal workers from texting while driving government vehicles or their own vehicles while on the job.
Distractions among young drivers are of particular concern, as the highest incidence of distracted driving occurs in the under-20 age group, the report says. New research released in July 2009 by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute examined a variety of tasks that draw drivers’ eyes away from the roadway and suggests that text messaging on a cell phone is associated with the highest risk among all cell phone-related tasks among drivers.
The report is based on a telephone survey of 800 teens ages 12–17 and a parent or guardian, as well as nine focus groups with middle and high school students.
“Cell phones are often seen as devices that can make our lives more efficient, allowing us to multitask in our idle moments,” says Mary Madden, senior research specialist and coauthor of the report, “And whether you’re a teenager or an adult, it’s tempting to think you can manage several different activities at once.”
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| Submitted by: | Kelly B (kellybr30@yahoo.com) 11/24/2009 11:27:19 AM PT |
| Location: | California, USA |
| Occupation: | Student |
I hate it when people do that...sometimes they just go way below speed limit while texting on the freeway and forcing me to pass, and like sometimes people start drifting off the road and it's kinda like 'dude, you gotta chill out a little bit.
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| Submitted by: | karolyn 11/23/2009 11:29:02 AM PT |
As a new teen driver, I am often tempted to text and drive. But Ive found that the danger out weighs the need for social contact. My parents installed Zoomsafer on my iPhone when I got my license and it has kept me focused! It automatically disables my key pad so I cant respond to any texts, emails or incoming calls while Im driving. The people that do contact me, receive a notification that I am driving and I will contact them once I reach my destination. My parents found it on www.zoomsafer.com
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