Survey shows that adults text while driving more than teens

By this point, no licensed driver in the United States could honestly say that they haven’t been warned of the dangers of distracted driving. Numerous studies have shown that distractions behind the wheel – especially those caused by a cellphone – make the driver significantly more likely to cause a car accident.

In fact, research has shown that a texting driver is 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash than a driver who is paying attention to the road. Texting while driving is often thought of as a problem primarily among teen drivers. But according to a recent survey, adults are actually the worst offenders.

The communications company AT&T surveyed just over 1,000 adult drivers. According to the results, 98 percent of adults say that they know texting while driving is dangerous and wrong. Despite this, approximately half of the respondents admitted that they text behind the wheel.

Other research has shown that about 43 percent of teen motorists admit to texting while driving. Teen drivers make up about 10 million motorists in the U.S. Adult drivers, on the other hand, make up about 180 million. This means that compared to teen drivers, a greater percentage and number of adult drivers text behind the wheel.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that distracted driving kills an average of nine people each day in the United States. Despite growing research and public safety campaigns about the dangers of distracted driving, the problem is actually becoming more prevalent.

No matter what your age, every licensed driver must make the choice to drive distraction-free each time they get behind the wheel. If you choose to text while driving, any one of us could become the next fatality statistic.

Source: USA Today, “Texting in traffic: Adults worse than teens,” Larry Copeland, Mar. 28, 2013