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"The Pew Internet &amp; American Life Project has just published the results of a study on distracted driving behavior amongst teenagers which shows that teens are aware of the dangers of texting while driving, but they choose to do it anyway.\nAfter surveying 800 teens in 4 US cities over the summer of 2009, Pew estimates that 26% of all American teens 16-17 have texted while driving, and 43% have talked on a cell phone while driving.Even more alarming is that 48% of teens 12-17 have witnessed someone else texting while driving, which points to an ambivalence and acceptance of the practice. The findings also indicate that even state laws prohibiting these activities may not be discouraging newly licensed drivers from using their mobile devices while behind the wheel.\nAmanda Lenhart, co-author of the report, claims that teens are well aware of the risks associated with texting while driving, \"but the desire to stay connected is so strong for teens and their parents that safety sometimes takes a backseat to staying in touch with friends and family.\"\nThe research is also indicative of the fact that children might be picking up the dangerous behaviors from their parents. The report states that, \"the frequency of teens reporting parent cell phone use behind the wheel in our focus groups was striking, and suggested that, in many cases, texting while driving is a family affair.\"\nIn a qualitative interview one teen boy even said, \"Yeah [my dad] drives like he's drunk. His phone is just like sitting in front of his face, and he puts his knees on the bottom of the steering wheel and tries to text.\"\nWe've included the full research report below, but here are a few additional findings that stand out:\n\n- 75% of all American teens 12-17 own a cell phone\n- 82% of teens 16-17 have a cell phone &amp;  76% text.\n- Overall, 34% of teens 16-17 say they have texted while driving, which translates to 26% of all American teens 16-17.\n- Boys and girls are equally likely to report texting behind the wheel.\n- 55% of teens 14-17 report that they have witnessed a driver texting as a passenger (48% for 12-17, and 32% for 12-13).\n\nIf this research highlights anything it's that teens are uber-connected, picking up bad behaviors from their parents, and unabashedly driving dangerously in order to stay connected.\n\n\n\t\t \t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t \t\t    \t\t\t    \t\t    \t\t\t\t\n\nImage from lierne on Flickr"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2009/11/16/teens-dangerous-driving/>