Spending time on the road can be hazardous for many reasons. People that are distracted by texting come in all ages. We might think that it is teenagers that are the worst offenders but that might not be the case.
According to a recent CNN story, there are a huge number of adult drivers that admit to texting while driving.
The survey was done by AT&T and it showed that more adults have texted while driving, as opposed to teens.
Adults made up a little over 1000 of those that did the survey. 15-19 year old drivers numbered 1200.
49%- adults that admit to texting while driving.
43%- teens that have sent a text while they were driving.
98%- of phone users that are completely aware that it is a bad idea.
So, is this issue improving or getting worse?
According to this particular survey it looks like it is worsening:
60%- drivers that did not text while driving, 3 years ago.
40% -drivers of all ages that text habitually as opposed to rarely.
23 – People that text and rive are that many times more likely to crash as opposed to drivers that don’t.
So, how do we get teens to stop the texting when adults are even guiltier of the same thing?
Start by setting your own good example.
That can actually work with endless other things in life as well.
Obviously it is important to talk to your kids about behavior that could be dangerous. Texting while driving is so incredibly dangerous that it can’t be tolerated by any means. Helping young people understand the consequences of distracted driving will help them to realize the possible outcome.
If you need to text as a parent, and you are driving, take the time to pull over and send the text. Show them by example how simple it is to pull into a parking lot or some other safe location to check and send a text.
Have teens develop good habits as well. For example if you always put your phone in your purse and then put the purse out of reach, they could do the same.
It is very important that teens know how they could affect other people with their driving behavior. If they are not fearful for themselves then possibly they will be afraid of causing pain or harm to other people.
