Teen texting and driving common: U.S. study

About a third of texting teens in the U.S. admit to texting behind the wheel, even though some said they thought it could hinder their ability to drive, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.

Teens aged 16 and 17 reported a variety of motivations for texting while driving, including the need to report their whereabouts to friends and parents, getting directions and flirting with significant others.

Teens also told of a variety of texting practices they believed would increase safety while they continued to drive.

The study by Washington, D.C.-based Pew polled 800 youth and found 82 per cent of those aged 16 to 17 have a cellphone and 76 per cent text. The poll suggests that overall, 34 per cent of teen texters aged 16 to 17 have texted while driving. The survey has an accuracy of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Additionally, Pew researchers, along with the University of Michigan, conducted nine focus groups withyouth aged 12 to 18 between June and October 2009, where the topic of driving and mobile phones was addressed.

Some teens told researchers they felt as though they could safely manage a quick exchange of texts while the car was stopped. One boy in high school said he would text "only at a stop sign or light, but if it's a call they have to wait or I'll hand it to my brother or whoever is next to me."

Others told of holding the phone up to keep their eyes simultaneously on the road and the phone.

"I try not to, but at a red light, it's a lot easier" said one teenage boy. "And if I do text while I'm driving, I usually try to keep the phone up near the windshield, so if someone is braking in front of me or stops short, I'm not going to be looking down and hit them."

Some teens said that while driving theywould hand their phone to passengers for texts to be read and sent.

'Everybody texts while they drive,' teen says

Other teens were more blas. "I think it's fine," one boy said. "And I wear sunglasses so the cops don't see [my eyes looking down]."

Likewise, another high school girl wrote that she texts "all the time," and that "everybody texts while they drive like when I'm driving by myself I'll call people or text them 'cause I get bored."

Teens made a distinction between reading text messages and sending them.

"There's a difference, I think," said one older high school boy. "Because just reading a text isn't that bad, it's just reading and then moving on. If you're texting, it's going to take more time when you're supposed to be driving, and that's when most people get in accidents."

The survey also looked at teens' experiences as passengers. Just under half, 48 per cent,said they had been a passenger with a texting driver and often the drivers were adult family members.

Some teens said they recognized the risk of a driver trying to steer a car while texting.

"I am concerned because when my mom drives she talks on the phone a lot, so she is still alert, but she can get kind of dangerous," saida boy in middle-school.

"Yeah [my dad] drives like he's drunk," another boy said. "His phone is just like sitting right in front of his face, and he puts his knees on the bottom of the steering wheel and tries to text."

When one middle school boy was asked how often he was in a moving vehicle when the driver sent a text message, he replied: "All the time. My mom, sister or brother will sit behind the wheel the whole time and just text away." Similarly, a middle school girl said: "My uncle will drive and text while he is driving he will text no matter where he is."

However, other teens said they felt that their parents were "good drivers" who could manage their phones safely.

"I don't really get worried because everyone does it," a middle school girl wrote. "And when my mother is texting and driving I don't really make a big deal, because we joke around with her about it (cuz she's a crazy driver), but we don't take it so serious."