Oprah's No Phone Zone Day April 30: Teens Admit Texting, Photographing, Surfing and Social Networking While Driving

April 30, is “No Phone Zone Day”.  A new survey shows that high school students text while driving as well as surf the net, update social networks and take photographs with their cell phones while driving.

The Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) survey shows why the No Phone Zone Day message is so urgent.

Teen drivers (64 percent) say they sometimes talk on the cell phone while driving, with more than a quarter of them (28 percent) confessed that do so often.

Their national survey of more than 2,500 eleventh and twelfth graders, one in three (33 percent) teen drivers say they often text while they drive and 56 percent in total say they do it at least sometimes, despite nearly half (48 percent) considering it to be the most distracting behavior behind the wheel.

The National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports nearly 6,000 people died and a half-million others were injured in car crashes involving a distracted driver in 2008. NHTSA also reports drivers under the age of 20 have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes. The enhanced technology and functionality of today’s cell phone brings yet more opportunities for distraction. One-quarter (26 percent) of teens admit they’ve at least sometimes used their cell phone to take pictures or videos while driving, 18 percent say they have gone online, and 15 percent say they’ve updated their Facebook or MySpace status through their phones while behind the wheel.

Parents and Passengers Play a Key Role

Importantly, the Liberty Mutual/SADD study identifies a key influence on safer driving: teen passengers. An overwhelming majority of teen drivers say they would stop texting (81 percent), talking (71 percent), taking pictures or video (86 percent), or going online (87 percent) with their cell phone if a passenger requested they do so. Unfortunately, far fewer teens say they would be a passenger making such a request. For example, only 46 percent of teens say they would ask a driver to stop texting, and only 18 percent would ask the driver to stop talking on their cell phone.

The Liberty Mutual/SADD study also suggests that parents have a tremendous opportunity to enhance their role in deterring unsafe driving behaviors among teens. More than one in five teens (22 percent) say their parents have either not spoken with them about driving safety at all or have only talked with them once. Past Liberty Mutual/SADD research strongly indicates that teens who have regular conversations with their parents about driving safety are less likely to drink and drive, less likely to speed, and are more likely to wear their seat belts.