Positive approach influences teen drivers to put down cell phone: study

Adults should emphasize to teens the positive effects of staying off the phone while driving, instead of focusing on the potential negatives, according to findings from a recent study by researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute.

Researchers studied 5,500 teens and found that positive motivators for teens who said they seldom use cell phones while driving include being able to pay better attention to their driving, being less likely to have a crash and following the law, according to a hospital press release. Teens who said they frequently use cell phones while driving believed refraining from use would result in:

• Becoming lost or forgetting something
• Not being able to let others know where they are or when they will arrive
• Not having their parents be able to reach them

Findings from the study were determined from the National Young Driver Survey, conducted by the institute's Center for Injury Research and Prevention.

The study was published in the July issue of the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.