Boston – Parents engage in the same dangerous driving behaviors that they warn their children against, according to data released by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Students Against Destructive Decisions.
Liberty Mutual and SADD commissioned ORC International to measure teen driving attitudes and behaviors. The study included focus groups in Philadelphia and Dallas, a national survey of more than 2,500 11th- and 12th-graders, and a survey of 1,000 parents of high school-aged drivers.
Released Aug. 7, the study revealed that parents admitted to talking on a cell phone while driving (86 percent), speeding (80 percent), texting (40 percent), driving after consuming alcohol (34 percent) and driving without a safety belt (21 percent).
Most teens (83 percent) reported that their parents engage in unsafe driving behaviors with them in the car, sometimes at higher rates than their parents admitted – 58 percent said they have witnessed their parents texting while driving, and 41 percent have seen their parents drive without a safety belt.
Nearly half of teens (41 percent) said their parents continue unsafe habits even after the teens ask them to stop, according to the survey.
