Traffic Payout

A new study released earlier this week by the Pew Research Center found that adults are as just as likely to engage in texting while driving as teens. In fact, the survey of 2,252 adults age 18 and older, which was conducted last month, found that 47% of adults who text said they had sent or received text messages while driving compared with only 34% of teens that reported doing so in study released last September. Although these findings run contrary to popular belief that teens are the primary offenders when it comes to texting, it does support the AAA Foundation’s belief that distracted driving is a problem for all drivers – regardless of age. Our 2009 TSC Index survey of more than 2,500 adults found that 87% felt that texting/emailing while driving was a very serious problem, yet 21% of those same people admitted to doing so in the previous month. Every potential distraction – eating, drinking, cell phones, passengers, etc – are things that ALL motorists need to address in their own driving behavior.