Although the majority of teens tell others not to text and drive, more than a third still engage in the act.
In surveys conducted over the last nine months since the National Transportation Safety Board called for a national ban on texting while driving, the majority of teens routinely admitted to this vice despite knowing of its dangers. Compared to those surveys, the trend appears to be slowly fading as a new poll from State Farm and Harris Interactive found that 34 percent indicated they had engaged in texting while driving.
However, it has been proven that teens, particularly when they first start, are most at-risk behind the wheel, and the survey goes on to point out that many are aware of the risks to the point that they call out others for distracted driving, even if they don’t practice what they preach.
The survey found that nearly four in five teens (78 percent) answered positively when asked if they spoke up as a passenger if the driver was texting while driving.
Of the 16 percent who indicated that they did not point out distracted driving behaviors as a passenger, almost half (48 percent) said they felt the driver could handle the distraction.
So while awareness is increasing and the vast majority understands the dangerous implications of texting while driving, a third of teens are still taking that risk.
