This week is National Teen Driver Safety Week. A new State Farm Insurance survey talked to drivers, ages 16-19, and found that while 90% say they know texting can distract them behind the wheel, 44% still do it. As for what things might stop them from looking at their phones behind the wheel, 51% said concerns about crashing, followed by getting caught by police (50%) and arriving safely at their destination (33%).
Other things that may motivate them to stop driving and texting include:
- Knowing someone who crashed while texting (23%)
- Stories about texting crashes (17%)
- Getting caught by parents (13%)
- Friends encouraging safe driving (10%)
Of course, texting isn’t the only thing distracting your teen behind the wheel. In fact, one of the biggest distractions according to teens themselves is talking with other passengers (94%), followed by listening to a GPS (79%), and searching for music (73%). Other distractions include:
- Accessing the Internet on their phone (36%)
- Reading social media (29%)
- Taking pictures (27%)
Not that all the results of the study were totally awful. 67% of teens say they’re more likely to use their cellphone when stopped at a red light rather than driving, which still isn’t good, but it’s at least a little better. Meanwhile, three quarters of teens say they wouldn’t use their phones when an adult was in the car with them, but that number goes down to 58% if it’s another teen in the car. Finally, two thirds of drivers say they are “a lot less likely” to use their phones when driving in bad weather.
Source: State Farm
