Teen drivers spend 21% of their time looking at their phones, revealing surprising research (video)

A surprising new study shows that US SOM teen drivers spend 21% of their time on the wheels looking at their phones, pose a significant risk of distracting driving crashes.

Many of this was a short gaze, but over 5% of the driving time was over 2 seconds of watching the phone, but it was long enough to get a dangerous qualification…

CNET Teens report doing this despite understanding the risks they are taking.

The study includes survey responses from 1,126 teen drivers across all four US regions, and includes in-depth interviews with a small group of high school students. Most participants recognized that distracted driving was unsafe and believed that parents and peers were unhappy with their behavior.

This explanation for the amputation is normalization of behavior, and most teens say their friends do it.

Thirty percent of screen time was for navigation, but this was actually a lower percentage than messaging (40%) and entertainment apps (65%).

Apple is taking many steps to reduce this risk, including the “do not interfere while driving” feature, which was first introduced in iOS 11. A survey by insurance companies found that 70% of iPhone owners use this feature.

However, teens don’t seem to have a note.

Dr. Rebecca Robbins, a leading author of the study, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said the intervention should aim to change social norms, while still aimed at enabling a “out-of-disturbance” mode and highlighting practical steps such as physically separating the driver from the device.

“Distracted driving is a serious public health threat, and is a concern, especially among younger drivers,” Robbins said. “Driving distractedly puts the driver at risk of injury or death, as well as putting everyone else on the road at risk of an accident.”

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Distracted driving caused by smartphone use has led to some truly horrifying crashes in which innocent victims have been killed and seriously injured, and drivers are serving long prison sentences.

If you are a parent of a teenage driver, you may want to show the video below to help you understand the big risks involved. The last one of the three is particularly intense.

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Image: FrameGrab for NHTSA Safety Video