Teens Cop to Texting and Driving—But Say Dad's Worse

No age limit for bad behavior behind wheel
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 16, 2009 5:57 PM CST
Teens Cop to Texting and Driving—But Say Dad's Worse
Two NY police officers examine an accident reported to be the result of texting while driving in Lockport, N.Y. on Thursday, July 30, 2009.   (AP Photo/Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, Stephen Wallace)

One-third of 16- and 17-year-olds say they have written text messages while behind the wheel. Despite that, young drivers are actually more responsible than many adults: 48% of respondents aged 12 to 17 say they’ve been in the car with a driver who was texting. One boy said his dad “drives like he's drunk. His phone is just like sitting right in front of his face, and he puts his knees on the bottom of the steering wheel and tries to text."

"Teens spoke not only of adults texting at the wheel, but also fumbling with GPS devices and being distracted because they're talking on the phone constantly," a Pew researcher tells MSNBC. "Much of the public discussion around these behaviors has focused on teens as young, inexperienced drivers, but some of the adults in these young peoples' lives are clearly not setting the best example either.”
(More GPS stories.)

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