If you’re about to warn your teenager about the dangers of texting or talking on a cellphone while driving, a new report suggests you look in the mirror first. A study released Friday by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found:
• Forty-seven percent of adults who text reported sending or reading texts while behind the wheel. In a 2009 Pew study, a lower number — 34 percent — of 16- and 17-year-olds who send texts said they did so while driving.
• Because not everyone has a phone or sends texts, the report said the findings indicate 27 percent of all U.S. adults have sent or read texts while driving and 26 percent of all U.S. 16- and 17-year-olds have done so.
• Adults are much more likely to chat on their cellphones while driving: 75 percent of adults with mobile phones said they talked and drove. Fifty-two percent of teenagers with cellphones said they did so in last year’s study.
The Associated Press
