FollowIs 16 years old teen mature enough to get a driver’s license? The law agrees, but parents are not always comfortable having their children driving at such an early age. That is why they tend to be constantly worried about the children’s wellbeing while they are behind the wheel. What they may not know is that parents distract teen drivers, even more than the teens’ friends.
Recent research shows that because of how parents manifest their concern about the teen’s safety, they end up actually distracting the teens. The research involved 408 teenage drivers. The teenagers aged 15 to 18 come from 31 states. They have a learner’s permit or a driver’s license. The question they were asked is why they text or talk on the phone while driving, while they know how dangerous it can be.
More than half of them reported that when they were talking on the phone while driving, it was with one of their parents. The other 47 percent said they were talking to a friend.
Right now there are many devices meant to ease smartphone usage by drivers. All sorts of hands-free solution appear on the market, but the futuristic Navdy display, seems to be one of the most satisfying.
Ironically, concerned parents distract teen drivers through insistent phone calls
“Teens told us parents really expected to keep track of them, and they are expected to answer the phone if the parent calls. In some cases, the parent might continue to call until the teen answers,” says Noelle LaVoie, a psychologist in Petaluma, California. The results of the study were presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association on Friday.
Youth using the phone while driving is a common research topic these days. On Thursday, another team of researchers said that 89 percent of the interviewed college students made phone calls while driving. The researchers from William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., and Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va found also that 79 of the respondents texted while driving as well, USA Today states. “Younger drivers seemed overconfident in their ability to multi-task,” says co-author assistant professor Keli Braitman. Even if drivers find texting to be one of the most distracting activity while driving, they still engage with it.
Parents distract teen drivers, so both parties must address this situation, in order to avoid accidents. Distracted driving is the leading cause of accidents in the U.S.
