TeenSafe, the first and leading independent smartphone monitoring service for parents, has released the top distracted driving facts and statistics for 2018 as part of the National Safety Council's Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
Crashes remain the leading cause of death amongst teens in the U.S., with device distractions being a major contributor. A recent American Automobile Association poll revealed that 94 percent of teen drivers acknowledge the vast dangers of texting and driving, while 35 percent of those polled admitted to still committing the act.
It takes only three seconds for a driver's attention to be diverted for a crash to occur - an issue that is exacerbated in teens who don't have years of driving experience. Some other dramatic statistics include:
- 20 percent of teens and 10 percent of parents cite they have extended, multi-message text conversations while they're behind the wheel.
- An additional passenger with a teen doubles the risk of getting into a fatal car crash. If two or more passengers are present, the odds become five times higher.
- A poll shows that 77 percent of adults and 55 percent of teenage drivers believe they can easily manage texting while simultaneously navigating the road.
- 80 percent of car crashes are attributed to a driver being distracted or not paying attention.
- Approximately 660,000 drivers use their smartphones while driving during daylight hours, creating a large potential for crashes and fatalities.
TeenSafe is taking steps to limit distracted driving, now considered the "new drunk driving," and is currently developing a future product that will directly combat the issue by using smartphone technology.
Parents wanting to learn more can join TeenSafe's Facebook group: Parent's Unite! End Teen Distracted Driving by clicking here.
More than one million parents have turned to TeenSafe to effectively manage how the digital world impacts their children's lives.
About TeenSafe
Since 2011, TeenSafe has helped millions of parents safeguard their children from online threats. TeenSafe will be introducing this summer a new teen-oriented distracted driving app for parents to confirm location, set geographical boundaries, block texts and app use to curb the alarming statistics on teen distracted driving. "Built by parents for parents," TeenSafe is a proud sponsor of the National PTA. Follow TeenSafe's blog.
