Examination of teen texting and driving behaviors and beliefs

Background: Motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for teenagers. Rural and urban teen drivers are likely to differ in their driving habits. Understanding these differences is needed for designing and implementing appropriate interventions that result in better driving habits.

Methods: Students of a high school in an urban county and a rural county in Tennessee completed a survey about beliefs and behavior relating to driving. The survey focused on texting while driving.

Results: The sample (n=611) consisted of 44% rural and 56% urban teenagers. About 66% were drivers. Most respondents (77%) believed that texting while driving was illegal. However, about 72% of teenagers indicated that they had been in a vehicle with a teenage driver who was texting and driving. Among drivers, 15% had a near-crash while they were texting and driving. Belief that texting while driving could lead to a crash was negatively correlated to texting attitudes and confidence in ability to text and drive (p<.01). Urban teenagers were more likely to have taken a driver's education class than rural teen drivers (p<.05). However, they were less likely to shut off their cellphone while driving (p<.05). Gender differences in some areas were observed.

Conclusions: Texting while driving is widespread. There were many similarities between rural and urban teenagers. Laws banning texting while driving have not been effective. Although belief that texting while driving could lead to a crash was moderately high, teenage drivers were less likely to shut off their phones while driving.