As Distracted Driving Awareness Month rolls on, more news continues to come to light regarding the habits of some teen drivers. A recent survey from Bridgestone Americas found that a growing number of young motorists are viewing potentially distracting behaviors as unacceptable.
About 71 percent of people said reading texts and emails while driving is unacceptable, despite the fact that 45 percent often do it themselves. Another 80 percent of drivers think sending texts and emails is a negative habit even though 37 percent admit to falling into this negative habit.
"The fact that actions are becoming socially unacceptable shows progress in the effort to raise awareness of the risks and consequences of distracted driving, but with this many teens admitting to engaging in the behavior privately, there is still much work to be done," said Angela Patterson, manager of Bridgestone Americas' Teens Drive Smart Program.
One thing that helps cut down on these distracted driving practices is having other people in the car. Although up to 95 percent of teens read texts and emails when driving alone, only 32 percent will do it with friends in the car, and that number drops to 7 percent if parents are present. However, more than half of people take precautions to make sure they don't get too distracted while behind the wheel, which helps to limit the possibilities of crashes or auto repair.