Teens In More Distracted Driving Accidents Than Previously Thought

AAA has announced results of what it claims is the most comprehensive research even conducted into crash videos of teen drivers. AAA says that it has found evidence that distracted driving is a much more serious problem than was previously believed. According to the stats gathered from video analysis, distraction was a factor in 6 out of 10 moderate to several accidents involving teen drivers.

AAA says that number is four times as many as official estimates based on police reports. In the research, the six seconds leading up to an accident was analyzed with data taken from in-vehicle event recorders. The analysis found that distraction was a factor in 58% of all crashes studied.

That includes 89% of road departure crashes and 76% of rear-end crashes. The NHTSA estimated previously that only 14% of all teen driver crashes involved distraction as a factor. AAA broke down the cost common forms of teen driver distraction in the study.

It found that interacting with passengers was involved in 15% of rashes. Cell phone use was involved in 12% of crashes, and looking at something inside the vehicle caused the distraction in 10% of crashes. Looking at something outside the vehicle caused 9% of crashes. Singing and moving to music caused 8% of crashes, grooming caused 6% of crashes, and reaching for objects caused 6% of crashes. Distraction caused by passengers is the most common cause of distracted driving accidents according to AAA, not mobile phones which is where most think distraction comes from.

SOURCE: AAA