State Farm® Survey Shows Fewer Teens Believe They Will Have an Accident or be Killed Texting While Driving Versus Drinking While Driving

BLOOMINGTON, Ill., Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- A new State Farm® survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, shows that despite academic research indicating the consequences of texting while driving can be as severe as drunk driving, some teens still don't see it that way.

In the survey, fewer teens view texting while driving as leading to fatal consequences as compared to drinking while driving. Of 14-17 years-olds who intend to have or already have a driver's license, the survey found that 36 percent strongly agree that if they regularly text and drive they could be killed one day. In contrast, the majority of teens (55 percent) strongly agree that drinking while driving could be fatal.

The survey also showed that teens think the chances of getting into an accident are still higher when drinking while driving versus texting while driving. In the survey, of these same teens, 63 percent strongly agree they could get into an accident if they text and drive. This compares with 78 percent who strongly agree they could get into an accident if they drink and drive. The survey was conducted in July among 697 U.S. teens 14-17 years of age.

The awareness gap becomes more pronounced among teens who admit to texting while driving versus teens who refrain from the practice. Among teens that have never texted while driving, 73 percent strongly agree they will get into an accident if they text and drive. Yet among teens that admit to texting while driving, only 52 percent strongly agree they will get into an accident as a result of the practice.

"Some teens still think the consequences of reaching for a cell phone are less severe than reaching for a beer bottle," said Laurette Stiles, vice president of Strategic Resources at State Farm. "We have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to helping teens understand that texting while driving can be every bit as dangerous as drinking while driving. It's an awareness gap that must be addressed."

Reaction Times

In the survey, aspiring and current teen drivers also think their chances of narrowly avoiding an accident are better texting while driving versus drinking while driving. With texting while driving, 55 percent of these teens agree they will have some situations when they almost get into an accident but will recover just in time. This compares to 36 percent of these teens who agree they can recover just in time in situations where they are drinking and driving.

While many teens may believe their ability to respond during a texting while driving incident is greater than with drinking while driving, research shows that texting may be as dangerous as or more so than drinking. In a 2008 study by TRL, the United Kingdom's Transport Research Laboratory, reaction time of drivers 17-24 years of age was reduced by 35 percent when typing a text message, compared with 12 percent when driving after consuming alcohol to the legal limit. A similar study was released in 2006 by the University of Utah using participants 22-34 years of age. This study found that the impairments associated with talking on a cell phone can be as profound as those associated with driving while intoxicated during those times when drivers are directly engaged in cell phone use. Researchers also pointed out that drinking creates impairment throughout the entire practice of driving. They found that texting while driving only creates impairment while the driver is directly engaged in the practice. Once reengaged in driving, drivers who text do not display the same characteristics as intoxicated drivers during routine operation of a motor vehicle.

The National Safety Council estimates that 200,000 crashes each year are caused by drivers who are texting.

The Role of Parents

The survey also underscores that parental engagement on texting while driving is not fully breaking through when compared to discussions about drinking and driving.

Of teens who talk often with their parents about driving, 82 percent strongly agree that if they regularly drink and drive they will get into an accident. That number falls to 72 percent among teens who rarely or never talk to their parents about driving. A similar pattern was evident around texting while driving but in these cases teens view the consequences of texting as less severe. In the survey, 67 percent of teens who often talk to their parents about driving strongly agree that if they regularly text and drive someday they will get into an accident. This compared with 56 percent of teens who rarely or never talk to their parents about driving.

The Survey

For this State Farm survey, Harris Interactive conducted the survey within the United States on July 22-26, 2010 among 697 U.S. 14-17 year-olds, including 694 who intend to have or already have a driver's license. Figures for age, sex, geographic region, and race/ethnicity were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. The estimated margin of error is +/- 3.7 percentage points for the entire sample and is higher among subgroups.

About State Farm®:

State Farm insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the U.S., is the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer in Canada. Our 17,800 agents and more than 68,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts – more than 79 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 34 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com® or in Canada statefarm.ca®.

About National Teen Driver Safety Week

National Teen Driver Safety Week is observed the third week of October, to bring attention to the number one killer of American teens, car crashes. During this week we encourage parents, young drivers, lawmakers and educators to focus on working together to change risky teen driving behaviors and help save lives. As a result of their combined goal of reducing injury and death from teen crashes, State Farm® and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia teamed up in 2007 to support a Congressional resolution designating National Teen Driver Safety Week. Working together with many valued safety organizations, we continue to provide leadership and advocacy around this national tragedy. For more information, go to www.statefarm.com/teendriving.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

SOURCE State Farm