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LOS ANGELES, CA - It looks like it’s not just teen drivers we need to worry about being distracted on the road. Parents do it to. Though many of us might think teens are the ones who can’t resist checking their text messages behind the wheel, it turns out that parents have a hard time steering clear of their devices while driving too.
In a poll conducted by common sense media, 56% of parents admitted to checking their phones while driving.
Despina Stavrinos, director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s distracted driving research lab said these results are troubling. She explains, “We’re finding estimates of about half of all parents say that they drive distracted, so that’s not really helping for where we’re trying to get in terms of shifting societal norms. If Mom and Dad are doing it, then hey, it must be OK.”
51% of teens said they see their parents checking and/or using their cell phones while driving.
Deborah Hersman, president and chief executive officer of the National Safety Council says, “That’s just like the grand slam of bad parenting, because you are modeling the wrong behavior, and then you’re telling the kids not to do something that they’ve watched you do potentially for years.”
So it looks like “Do what I say not what I do” isn’t the most effective parenting phrase anymore. Especially if you just texted that to them. From your car.
Remember it can wait.