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Teen Texting & Driving: Parental guide

Teenagers and cars can be a deadly combination. They underestimate or simply unable to recognize the hazardous driving conditions, e.g., texting and driving.  These days, teen texting and driving is becoming a problem even more serious than teen drinking and driving. Before you give a car keys to your teen, learn the teen driving facts and statistics.

Why is texting and driving a problem for teens?

Texting is one of the most dangerous distractions among teens while driving. Five seconds of reading or answering the single text can easily take the driver’s attention off the road. The worst thing is that 95 % of teens are aware that texting while driving is not safe, but continue to do it anyway. The main reasons why adolescents take risk are the overwhelming sense of confidence and peer pressure.

As a parent, you need to remember that your child is still learning and getting the driving experience, even if they almost got full control over the wheels. Besides, it is essential to keep in mind that the distracted driving has a bad effect on teen`s brain.

Effects of distracted driving on teen`s brain

A lot of teens believe they are able to cope with several tasks at the same time while behind the wheel. But it is the biggest misconception. The brain of a human, especially the teen`s one is not fully developed yet. That’s why it is programmed to do the only the one thing. If a teen tries to fulfill two or more tasks simultaneously, e.g., texting and driving, the brain will start to slow down. Consequently, the speed at which the teen`s brain can process the driver`s surroundings will ease off too. According to the research, when the driver is distracted by texting, the activity of the brain reduces by about 33 %. It means that the teen driver is not capable to process and respond to the environment due to the multitasking.

Why teens engage in texting and driving?

These days more and more teens are engaging in texting while driving. Even if you continuously have the conversations with your kid about the dangers of texting and driving, it doesn’t mean that they will not do it. Here are a few reasons that make teens text while driving.

  1. Overconfidence: A teen may not realize the danger they may get into or simply think they a good driver and can cope both with driving and texting at the same time.
  2. Multi-tasking:  If your teen usually sees the examples of multitasking in their family like, for them there it is a normal way of life. So, their confidence is growing, and they think they can do everything at the same time, even text and drive.
  3. Risk: Teens get a lot of pressure and applause from their peers for taking risks. So it is absolutely possible that a teen might texting and driving to show off to their friends and to demonstrate that they are afraid of nothing.

Teens texting and driving stats

Before having a conversation about texting and driving, inform your kid about the statistics that shows where this danger may lead to. Below you may see some shocking statistics:

  • 34 % of high school students have been texting while driving.
  • Texting while driving leads to 1 in every 4 car crashes.
  • Drivers under 20 years old are the biggest part of distracted drivers.
  • Almost 55% of teens think that it is much easier to text than speaking on
  • Texting and driving raise the chances of being involved in the car accident by up to 23 times.
  • Even 5 seconds of distraction can lead to the car accident.

Teen car crash statistics

Being a parent of a teen, your task is to find a middle ground to discuss all the potential issues before giving car keys to your kid. Speak openly about hazards and outcomes that happen when people mix texting and driving. Here is the shocking car crash statistics among teens:

  • Every year, texting while driving causes almost 330, 000 teens` injuries.
  • 1,6 million car crashes happen every year due to the teen texting and driving.
  • 21 % of teen drivers are involved in fatal outcomes due to the texting while driving.
  • More than 11 teens die every day due to the car accidents caused by texting and driving in the world.
  • 12 % of all distracted drivers involved in car crashes are teens 15-19-year-old teens.
  • Juveniles are 4 times more likely to get into a car crash than adults while texting and driving.

As a parent of a teen, your duty is to discuss all safety issues with your kid. First of all, tell them that teenagers texting and driving is a serious issue and can even lead to fatal outcomes. Secondly, be a good role-model. Are you always staring at your phone while driving? Kids are watching your every step. Juveniles will not take the safe driving seriously unless their parents do what they preach. Thirdly, you can block the Internet with Kidgy for the time when you know they should be driving.

This entry was posted in: Tips for parents

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