Teen drivers typically unsafe on the highway with rushing and handheld cellphone use

Motorcar crashes are a number one reason for demise in adolescents, and dangerous driving behaviors like rushing, fast accelerations, and cellphone use can contribute to crashes. New analysis finds many teenagers wrestle to abide by the principles of the highway.

Authors of the summary, “Utilizing a Novel Cellphone Telematic App to Measure Adolescent Driving Behaviors,” discovered that each one teenagers, regardless of their intercourse, behind the wheel of a automotive had been liable to dangerous behaviors, notably handheld cellphone use and rushing.

Amongst teen drivers studied, rushing occurred in roughly 40% of journeys, and handheld cellphone use was detected in simply over 30% of journeys. In 5% of journeys tracked by the examine, youngsters had been utilizing a cellphone whereas rushing.

“Our information offers us one other perception into teen driving behaviors. Teenagers had been rushing and utilizing their cellphone whereas driving, however it didn’t happen in each journey. We need to encourage protected driving and discover methods to assist stop these dangerous driving behaviors that may result in a crash,” mentioned lead creator Catherine McDonald, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, the Dr. Hildegarde Reynolds Endowed Time period Professor of Main Care Nursing, Vice-Chair of the Division of Household and Neighborhood Well being at Penn Nursing, and Co-Director of the PENN Harm Science Middle.

The researchers used a cellphone utility to trace the driving expertise of 165 adolescents. The typical age of teenagers within the examine was 17.3 years, and the typical size of licensure was eight months. The examine discovered that the majority adolescents drove brief journeys, a median of underneath six miles per journey, and fewer than 2% of journeys had been at night time.

There have been a pair variations between the driving habits of women and men. Onerous braking and fast accelerations occurred in solely about 10% of journeys, however males within the pattern engaged on this dangerous driving conduct extra typically than females. Nonetheless, there have been no vital variations between the women and men in rushing, cellphone use, or nighttime driving.

“Given the quickly altering know-how within the each day lifetime of adolescents, this examine additionally builds on earlier analysis and helps to establish patterns associated to cellphone use whereas driving amongst adolescents,” McDonald mentioned. “Behavioral variations on this pattern spotlight alternatives for focused interventions on dangerous driving.”

The analysis was first offered throughout the 2022 American Academy of Pediatrics Nationwide Convention & Exhibition on October 9.