America’s teens seem to have a disconnect between what they’ve been told and what they do. They’ve been told and given fair warning that distracted driving is deadly, killing 6,000 Americans yearly and injuring hundreds of thousands. Yet 86 per cent of teen drivers indulge in distracted driving anyway, often in the form of texting or making cell phone calls while at the wheel.

This finding came via a study conducted by Seventeen magazine and AAA auto club and reported by USA Today. It reported other common forms of distracted driving among teens as eating, adjusting a music device, applying makeup and driving with four or more other teens in the vehicle.

Actually, texting wasn’t the top distraction revealed by the survey.

The worst was adjusting a radio, CD or MP3 player, with 73 per cent of teens doing this. That was followed by eating while driving, 61 per cent; talking by cell phone, 60 per cent; and texting, 28 per cent.

Thirty states and the District of Columbia now ban texting while driving. Texas only bans texting for inexperienced drivers.

Other survey findings were that teens 18 and 19 years old are more likely to engage in distracted driving than those who are 16 and 17 years old, and that teens who own their own car are more apt to be distracted drivers than teens who share a vehicle with others.

Jim S. Adler & Associates strongly supports safe driving campaigns and efforts to curb distracted driving. If you or a loved one has been injured due to a distracted driver, alert a car accident attorney with Jim S. Adler & Associates to seek proper financial compensation.

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