Adults Text By Driving More Than Teens

Texting while driving, along with talking on cellphones are considered to be a major cause of accidents on American roads. Some studies show that the distraction makes it more likely that these distracted driver will have accidents than drives who do not use electronic devices while at the wheel. A study by the NHTSA found that “In 2008, nearly 6,000 people died in crashes that involved distracted driving. Distracted driving applies to anything that takes your eyes off the road, your hands off the steering wheel, or interrupts your concentration while driving.”

A new Pew Internet & American Life Project made a counter-intuitive finding. Adults text and talk on the phone while behind the wheel more often than teenagers do. The study found that “One in four (27%) American adults say they have texted while driving, the same proportion as the number of driving age teens (26%) who say they have texted while driving. ” And, “Fully 61% of adults say they have talked on their cell phones while they were behind the wheel. That is considerably greater than the number of 16- and 17-year-olds (43%) who have talked on their cells while driving.”

The study pokes a hole in the notion that teens are tethered to the electronic devices which causes dangerous distractions. It also shows the extent to which adults have come to rely on handset-based communication even to their own peril.

“Adults may be the ones sounding the alarm on the dangers of distracted driving, but they don’t always set the best example themselves,” Mary Madden, a senior research specialist at Pew, said in a statement.

The Pew report is based on the findings of a daily tracking survey on Americans’ use of the Internet. The results in this report are based on data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International between April 29 and May 30, 2010, among a sample of 2,252 adults, age 18 and older.

The old saying used by many parents applies well here. “Do as I say, and not as I do.”

Douglas A. McIntyre