To Your Health
May, 2019 (Vol. 13, Issue 05)
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Texting While Driving: Parents Are Setting a Bad Example

By Editorial Staff

When it comes to parenting these days, screen time is a big topic of conversation. So is safety, and once your child gets his / her driver's license and pulls out of your driveway alone for the first time, those two topics collide head on. We're talking about texting while driving, of course and it's a significant public health risk.

According to an AAA survey, despite the fact that almost all teens (94 percent) recognize the danger of texting while driving, more than a third (35 percent) admit they do it anyway. Bad news, because according to the same survey, one in five teen drivers involved in fatal accidents were distracted by their cellphones.

But teens aren't the only ones to blame. Parents are texting while driving, too, which not only puts their own safety in jeopardy, but also sets a dangerous example for their children.

texting while driving - Copyright – Stock Photo / Register Mark A survey of 435 parents in 40 U.S. states has revealed that not only do only about half (52 percent) of millennial parents (22 to 37 years old) and only slightly more (58 percent) of older parents believe it is "never" safe to text and drive. Even worse, almost two-thirds of parents have read texts while driving, and more than half have written texts while driving.

So, parents are actually more likely to text and drive - or more likely to admit it. Regardless, these statistics emphasize the problem texting and driving poses for young and old. Set the right example for your kids. Don't text and drive. The life you save could be your own.