Want safe teen drivers? Put your own phone down now, expert says
Here are some numbers that probably won't surprise anybody who has spent some time with a teenager lately: According to AAA, nearly 70 percent of teens admit to talking on the phone while driving in the last 30 days. More than 50 percent say they've been texting while driving during the same period.
Posted — UpdatedMore than 50 percent say they've been texting while driving during the same period.
But here's another fact, according to Kathryn Egan, injury prevention coordinator in the trauma program at UNC HealthCare: They can be prevented. Six out of 10 teen crashes involve driver distraction, Egan said.
"Teens are invincible by nature," she said. "So, there’s a little more risk-taking behavior, which is pretty normal for that age range."
But she said it's important to talk about how certain behaviors are risky, and why it's so important to pay attention to the road.
When she speaks with teens, Egan drives the point home with a discussion on multi-tasking. Already, drivers are multi-tasking when they're behind the wheel. They're using their cognitive abilities to pay attention and make rapid decisions based on what the car in front of them is doing. The act of driving with hands on the wheel and foot on the pedal uses motor functions. And drivers are using their vision to see what's all around them.
Those same functions - cognitive, motor and vision - are required when sending a text.
"Really, it's multitasking in the same lanes of the brain, and that's just overdrive," Egan said.
Likewise, Egan said, it's critical for all drivers to focus on what they're doing regardless of whether you're doing everything right.
How can parents drive home the point of not texting and driving (besides watching some pretty effective ads and public service announcements, including the recent one by AT&T, which I've linked below)?
Egan has three tips:
In fact, Egan said parents need to start modeling this behavior long before their kids ever become old enough to drive.
Here's that public service announcement from AT&T:
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