Teen drivers spend over one fifth of each trip distracted by phones

A new study offers a stark reminder of how pervasive cell phone use while driving is for young people, as findings demonstrate teen drivers spend an average of 21.1% of each trip viewing their mobile behind the wheel. 

In a questionnaire completed by more than 1,100 teen drivers across the US, the young motorists estimated that 26.5% of these glances were for two seconds or longer, a duration which dramatically increases their risk for a crash. 

Results, published in the peer-reviewed journal Traffic Injury Prevention, show the most common reason for the distraction was entertainment (65%), followed by texting (40%) and navigation (30%). 

"Distracted driving is a serious public health threat and particularly concerning among young drivers. Driving distracted doesn't just put the driver at risk of injury or death, it puts everyone else on the road in danger of an accident," says lead author Rebecca Robbins, PhD, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system.

Distracted driving significantly increases the risk of crashes.
Across the US, 35 states have banned all types of phone usage for young drivers. However, in a previous national study, 91.8% of adolescents still report "regularly engaging" in at least one distracted driving behavior per trip – such as texting, talking on the phone, or using it for music. 

In this new paper, a team of researchers from Mass General Brigham; Harvard University; the Center For Vehicle, Driver, and Safety Systems at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute; the University of Massachusetts; and the Technical University of Munich, wanted to identify the factors influencing teens in engaging in distracted driving. 

In order to further explore attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control, the authors conducted 20 interviews with high school students. The beliefs identified were incorporated into a 38-item questionnaire, which was put to a US geographic sample of 1,126 participants across the Northeast, Midwest, West, and South. 

Responses indicate that many young drivers believe and understand that distraction at the wheel was associated with negative outcomes, and that their important social referents (like their parents and friends) think they should not drive distracted. 

However, they believe their peers also drive distracted, highlighting the perceived social norm of the behavior. 

Another finding from the survey suggests, however, that most teen drivers have a "strong belief" in their ability to withstand the pressure to drive distracted. 

"We found that while young drivers recognize the advantages of using smartphone features like GPS, they also understand the heightened risk of accidents associated with distracted driving," said Dr. Robbins – who specializes in developing research that uses marketing and communication tools and technologies to design persuasive behavior change interventions to improve sleep and circadian health. 

"Encouraging the use of 'Do Not Disturb' mode, keeping phones out of reach and ensuring teens get adequate sleep are effective strategies to mitigate this dangerous behavior." 

The paper aims to assist educators, parents, and local education leaders in creating message-based promotions.

One campaign, the experts suggest, could be aimed at debunking the belief that phone use at the wheel allows one to be productive while driving. 

A limitation of the research is the small sample size used for the semi-structured interviews (n=20), "which may not accurately represent the broader high school-aged driving population," state the authors. 

"In addition," the authors write, "we excluded schools in urban areas during the qualitative phase, given the lower prevalence of driver's licenses in these regions. Thus, our results may need to be replicated among urban adolescent drivers to ensure broader applicability". 

However, the authors state that their questionnaire could be used again to interview more young drivers. Such future quantitative research deploying the survey, they write, "can first assess the presence and the strength of these beliefs, then investigate their relationship to behavioral intentions and actual behaviors". 

"This approach can help to illuminate the beliefs most strongly linked to behavioral intentions, guiding the development of targeted interventions," they conclude.