The FINANCIAL –Twenty-seven percent of Houston teens said they read a text or email every time they drive, compared to nearly thirty percent nationally, according to the UMTRI/Toyota Teen Driver Distraction Study.
Twenty-four percent respond to a text while driving, which is the same as the national average for teens. Perhaps even more alarming, about one in five Houston teens (22 percent) have extended conversations via text message while driving, according to the report.
Cell phone use by teen drivers and parents in Houston is pervasive: Sixty-seven percent of teens in the Houston area report using a cell phone while driving (hands-free and/or hand-held). Eighty-three percent of parents do the same.
Teens in Houston regularly drive with young passengers and no adults, despite serious risks: 62 percent of teen drivers in Houston report they drive with two or three teen passengers and no adults in their car, compared to 69 percent nationally. This behavior is associated with a doubling of a driver’s risk of being killed in a crash, according to the AAA Foundation. More than a third (35 percent) of teen drivers in Houston drive with more than three teen passengers and no adults, compared to 44 percent nationally, which is associated with roughly a quadrupling of a driver’s risk of being killed in a crash.
Digital and social media distractions are creating significant driving risks in the Houston area, especially for teens: Teens in Houston search for music on a portable music player, such as an iPod, much more frequently than parents do while driving. More than half of Houston teens (55 percent) say they do so, while just 13 percent of parents do. In addition, more than one in ten Houston teens (12 percent) report that they update or check social media, such as Facebook or Twitter, while driving.
“Driver education begins the day a child’s car seat is turned around to face front. The one piece of advice I would give to parents to help them keep newly licensed drivers safe on the road is to always be the driver you want your teen to be,” said Dr. Tina Sayer, Principal Engineer for Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) and teen safe driving expert.
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