Study: 60% of Teens Drive While Texting, Despite Knowing Dangers

by Terrence O'Brien on May 23, 2009 at 03:27 PM

Another day, another study -- it seems like every time we turn around, there's another body of research revealing that, even though they know it's dangerous, stupid, and should be illegal, teens still text-message while driving.

The latest study paints a slightly rosier picture than the last one we saw (which said that 85-percent of teenage girls and almost 60 percent of boys were guilty of driving-while-texting).The survey -- conducted by research firm Toluna on behalf of voice-recognition company Vlingo -- found that 60-percent of teens admitted to texting at the wheel. It's not just kids that are guilty, though, since 26-percent of all users surveyed said that they do it too.

83-percent of respondents agreed that driving-while-texting (or, DWT, as many people are calling it) should be illegal. Whether it's legal or not, DWT is obviously very dangerous. Sadly, if these studies are any indication, it's clear that people probably wont stop tapping out messages while they're switching lanes. Maybe we'll start taking the train to work. [From: Live Science]

Tags: driving while texting, DrivingWhileTexting, dwt, studies, study, teens, text-messaging, texting, texting while driving, TextingWhileDriving, textmessaging, top, trends

Comments

AngelMay 23rd 2009 5:15PM

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GET THEM OUT OF THEIR HANDS WHILE DRIVING!!!!!!! Stop Cell phone use while operating a vehicle!!!!!!! Stop it!!!! Stop It!!!!!! Stop it!!!!! Save Lives!!!!

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MarkMay 23rd 2009 7:48PM

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I'm 22 and I text while driving. If you have a steady hand, good peripheral vision, and plenty of room between cars there's no danger.

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RobMay 25th 2009 3:53PM

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I'm 36 and I fly large commercial airplanes for a living. I can do a lot of things that require multi-tasking, but wouldn't consider texting while driving on my best day. I can also say that you've overestimated your abilities to multi-task by a long shot. Combine that with the fact that the part of your 22 year-old brain which handles judgment, will not fully develop until you're about 25, and you can appreciate while texting, let alone talking on a cell phone while driving is an accident waiting to happen.

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PaulMay 24th 2009 3:03AM

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Hey Mark,
when you get into a wreck, please come back and give us all the details. If you survive it.
PSK

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rm9847May 24th 2009 8:56AM

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And that is why the carnage on our highways will continue, until some of these defiant yunggins realize that they are not invincible.

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ccvvgggMay 24th 2009 12:03PM

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I work at a hospital and we are getting more and more of these driving & texting teens, oftentimes with very serious injuries. Paralyzed for life, retarted for life due to head injuries, burdening the society. One teen survived serious injuries but will be a able to walk. The retarded mother smiles and says, she does it too and sees nothing wrong with it. And we are supposed to have compassion for people like that! Very very hard to do! Driving and texting should be outlawed! These people should go straight to prison.

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Mister PooMay 24th 2009 9:44PM

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Let me just say this in regards to the serious lack of human intellect involved with the use of texting and driving : If you are gonna live by your stupid and selfish behavior ( you do know what your doing is extremely dangerous not only to you but EVERYONE else that has to deal with your inattentive ass) then you also sure as hell better be ready to die by that same behavior. Honestly, I personally believe that if you die as a result of your stupidity from such actions... you deserved it 100% and thats just less stupid DNA running around in the human gene pool :)

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strider_mt2kMay 24th 2009 12:48PM

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Make it an organ bank crime.

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CindyMay 24th 2009 2:11PM

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Wow, imagine that, there are idiots on the roads!

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adaminthemiddle7May 24th 2009 2:29PM

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I on rare occasion will text will driving. But only when I am 100% certain it is safe (I'm sitting at a red light, no one else is on the road, etc.).

One of my friends, who had just turned 21, recently crashed and died. She was texting while driving. I'm all for making it illegal.

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TMay 24th 2009 11:57PM

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First of all, i think doing anything while driving is a bad idea, the phone is worse though. You all complain but ive seen people put on socks while driving. Also that "your brain wont develop untill youre 25" Excuse me, but most people in jail are over 30 i guess you havent done your research. Obviously your judgment hasnt fully developed because your wise crack self things youre better then every one else. Im happy that much like how the whites used to treat blacks you think youre better then every one based on age. Again amazing society we have.

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RobMay 25th 2009 7:57PM

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"T",

You're generally correct. Doing anything while driving, other than driving, is a negative. You're also correct that talking on the phone is worse, as it is mostly a cognitive distraction and not a physical one. I do take issue with your correlation that because people over 30 are incarcerated, they exercise worse judgment that those under 30. Assuming your facts are correct, you're simply upset that my remarks about brain function applies to those 25 and under. There's no science in your correlation. No wisecrack to be found either. Here, read this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52687-2005Jan31.html

This is one of many studies done over the last decade. I'm also not entirely sure how it is you come to these conclusions race and age. But it speaks volumes for your inability to form a coherent thought. Keep working on it though. It should improve with age. (That is a wisecrack.)

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sueMay 27th 2009 9:15PM

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So, most people that are in jail are over 30? Perhaps, but at what age did they START serving their sentence? Their FIRST incarceration was at age what? Yeah, people get older when they are in jail, but if jailed at an age of less than 25 they usually fail to mature in ability to make good judgement, then when they are released they are prone to recidivism.
The idea that the brain does not reach full potential until a certain age is based on many things. Arbitrary numbers are based on single factors, but the truth to any argument here is that to have the brain develop to its full potential, ONE has to be alive that long. I teach HS and I would like to see my kids reach their full potential, what ever age that is! But driving (and drinking??) and texting certainly does not seem like an activity that is going to insure this outcome.

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geneJun 28th 2009 1:37PM

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wheres the laws for this or is it hard to convict

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