American Teens Overconfident about being Safe on Road: Over 40 Percent Text while Driving

Though fully aware of the risks associated with distracted driving, teens are still ignoring expert advice on safe driving by involving in texting while driving, a new study says.

The findings, presented Saturday at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC, come at a time when motor vehicle crashes remain one of the leading causes of death among American teenagers. According to an estimate from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), about 1,963 young drivers between the ages 15 and 20 died, and 187,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2010.

Texting while driving has long been one of the leading causes of many accidents on the road. According to the researchers, the hidden risks associated with texting is much higher than driving while intoxicated (DWI), and people who text while driving are 23 times more likely of having a crash.

The study looked at more than 7,800 high school students who participated in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2011. Of the total participants, nearly 43 percent reported texting while driving. The prevalence of texting while driving was higher among boys (46 percent) than girls (40 percent) and among older teens above age 18 (52 percent) than younger ones aged 15 (26 percent).

Prevalence of other risky behaviors, including driving under the influence (DUI), engaging in unprotected sex, and extreme dependence on indoor tanning devices, were also comparatively higher among the youngsters who admitted to texting while driving.

Apart from that, laws meant to prevent texting while driving were found to be totally ineffective in discouraging youngsters from using their phones while driving - about 39 percent of the participants admitted to texting while driving in states that had laws banning the same.

"Texting while driving has become, in the words of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a 'national epidemic,'" principal investigator Alexandra Bailin, a research assistant at Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York, said in a news release.

"Although teens may be developmentally predisposed to engage in risk-taking behavior, reducing the prevalence of texting while driving is an obvious and important way to ensure the health and safety of teen drivers, their passengers and the surrounding public," Bailin added later.