Not by much less, but the point is that too many drivers of all ages are texting while driving. Teens are not alone. The Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 27% of US adults have texted while driving, while 26% of 16- and 17-year-old drivers have. And a lot more adults have talked on their cellphones (61%) while driving than teens have (43%). What this suggests is that we adults need to do some behavior modification. Collectively, anyway, we’re not modeling the safe driving practices we’re promoting to our kids. As for when we’re passengers, “half (49%) of all adults say they have been in a car when the driver was sending or reading text messages on their cell phone. The same number (48%) of all teens ages 12-17 said they had been in a car ‘when the driver was texting’,” Pew said. When asked specifically about feeling their safety was at risk, 44% of all adults “say they have been in a car when the driver used the cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger,” and “about the same number of teens (40%) said they had been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a dangerous way.” [See also “Texting while driving: What are parents modeling?” and “Drivers don’t text!”.]
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