IVR

Despite numerous published reports about the dangers of texting while driving, teenagers are still practicing the bad habit, according to a new survey by a Cambridge, Mass.-based mobile voice application maker.

 

 According to the Vlingo Consumer Mobile Messaging Habits Report, 60 percent of teens admit to reading incoming text messages while driving. The finding comes as the nation celebrates National Teen Driver Safety Week, which ends Oct. 24.

 

Text messaging has overtaken the phone as the primary form of communications for teens. According to Vlingo, 94 percent of teens use mobile phones to send text messages. Of that group, 54 percent send more than 500 text messages per month, and 79 percent send more text messages than make phone calls.

 

While there is widespread support for a law prohibiting the use of texting while driving, some teens said they would back the law if there is technology to make the practice safer. While 62 percent of teens support making driving while texting illegal, 34 percent said they would be open to such a law if a hands-free solution was available.

 

What’s more, 90 percent of teens said they would use a technology solution that let them speak text and e-mail messages by voice and have incoming messages read to them while driving instead of typing.

 

"The use of text messaging will only increase, and will continue to take place on the roads as this generation gets older and others follow in their footsteps," Dave Grannan, CEO of Vlingo, said in a statement. "However, today's teens have demonstrated that they are eager to adopt new technologies, particularly options that improve road safety. It is our responsibility to look into innovative solutions that embrace these consumer usage trends to make the roads safer.”

 

And while laws may be in place, they don’t necessarily stop the dangerous activity, Vlingo said. The report found that two of the top five worst offending states  - Tennessee, New Jersey, Alabama, Idaho and Oklahoma - have some form of DWT/mobile phone ban in place or laws that are pending. And of the five states with the best records  - Arizona, Vermont, Rhode Island, Ohio and Michigan - Rhode Island is the only state to ban DWT to those under 18.

 

As of September, just nine states have a ban on driving while texting for teenagers and 40 percent of teenagers are aware of such a prohibition in their state.

 

Texting while driving has caught the attention of lawmakers in several states as a safety issue. Studies have shown that cell phones and other mobile devices create distractions for drivers, leading to serious accidents, or even fatalities. Even cell phone companies like Verizon Wireless are supporting states’ efforts to ban texting-and driving. For example, the company supported a California law, which requires drivers to use hands-free devices, and also bans texting while driving.

 

Text-messaging likely played a role in the tragic accident in Los Angeles last fall in which a commuter train collided with a Union Pacific freighter, killing 25 people. The National Transportation Safety Board said a Metrolink engineer driving the commuter train sent a text message 22 seconds before the crash. The engineer, Robert Sanchez, was among those who died in the Sept. 12, 2008 accident in a northwest Los Angeles suburb.

 

Earlier this year, nearly 50 people were injured when a Boston trolley operator crashed into a stopped trolley near Government Center Station. The operator, who admitted sending a text message shortly before the accident, was later fired. Since then, the MBTA implemented a ban on cell phone use by operators.

 

Lawmakers last month talked about the dangers of driving while texting and considered implementing a nationwide ban at the Distracted Driving Summit. This week, officials hope to further teach drivers about the dangers as part of National Teen Driver Safety Week, which implemented in 2007 to highlight the epidemic of teen car crashes in the U.S.