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A third of American teenagers say they text and drive

On Behalf of | Feb 20, 2019 | Car accidents

Sharing the road with inexperienced teen drivers is an unavoidable part of life for Georgia residents, and while teen drivers lack experience through no fault of their own, many of them are also taking unnecessary risks that make them even more dangerous to the motoring public. At Cromartie Law, we recognize that texting and driving continues to be a serious and pervasive problem among teenagers, and we have helped many clients involved in car wrecks with negligent teen drivers pursue appropriate recourse in the aftermath.

According to Reuters, at least one in three of today’s teen drivers acknowledge texting behind the wheel, and this number is even higher in states that allow teens who are under 16 to get driver’s licenses. In a recent survey involving more than 100,000 teenagers across 35 different states, 38 percent reported texting behind the wheel on at least one occasion.

While this figure is distressing in and of itself, the fact that the teens surveyed in 34 of those 35 states lived in places where texting behind the wheel was illegal for drivers under the age of 21 is further cause for alarm. In other words, laws that ban the practice seem to have little effect on teen drivers who continue to engage in this highly dangerous driving behavior, despite the fact that the dangers of distracted driving, and specifically, texting and driving, are extremely well-documented.

Additional findings revealed by the survey on teen driving habits included the fact that teens who consistently wore seat belts were less likely than those who did not to text and drive. Also,white teenagers were more likely to text and drive than teenagers of other ethnic backgrounds. You can find more about car crashes on our webpage.

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