Who texts more behind the wheel: teens or adults?

On Behalf of | Apr 4, 2013 | Car Accidents

Who is more likely to text behind the wheel, teenagers or adults? Surprising, a new study by AT&T found that adults are more likely to be texting while driving despite the wide-spread belief that teenagers are responsible for a majority of distracted driving car accidents.

The study found that 49 percent of adults surveyed said they text while driving, compared to 43 percent of teen drivers. Adults never used to text behind the wheel but during the last three years, more adults have started using cellphones while driving than ever before.

Texting while driving is known to be a very dangerous behavior and is one of the most common causes of distracted driving car accidents in the U.S. Based on the findings of this study, researchers suggested that national safety campaigns on distracted driving start to address all drivers instead of just teenagers because adults are just as likely to text behind the wheel.

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month so many new campaigns have started throughout the country to try and prevent car accidents caused by distracted drivers. While texting is a very dangerous and common type of distracted driving, there are other ways drivers can be distracted behind the wheel and at risk for being in a car accident.

Distractions include turning around to talk to people in back seat, reaching for stuff on the floor or in the glove box, using a GPS device and eating. Any behavior that takes a driver’s attention off the road is a distraction and is very risky.

Drivers should be aware of all the ways they may become distracted while driving and try to deter those behaviors before they even get on the road. One of easiest ways is to put your cellphone out of reach or hidden so a driver is not tempted to use his or her cellphone while driving.

Source: NKY, “Texting in traffic: Adults worse than teens,” Larry Copeland, March 27, 2013

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