More than half of Hispanic teens see parents text and drive
According to the results of a new survey conducted by AT&T, more than 50 percent of Hispanic teenagers report having seen their parents text messaging while operating a moving vehicle. This safety research survey was conducted in conjunction with the phone providers “It Can Wait” safety awareness promotion. This advertising campaign is intended to encourage motorists to wait until they’ve arrived at their destination to send or read a text based message on a handheld communication device. An estimated 54 percent of teenage Hispanic respondents reported text messaging while behind the wheel of a moving automobile, according to the results of AT&T’s survey. According to the results released recently by the phone company, approximately 41 percent of Caucasian teenagers and 42 percent of African American teenagers reported sending or reading text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Regardless of race 43 percent of all teenage survey respondents reported text messaging while driving, while three out of four respondents reported seeing friends engaged in text message related distracted driving practices. While 68 percent of Caucasian teenage survey participants reported owning an iPhone or other smart phone, 78 percent of the Hispanic teenage drivers surveyed uses a phone equipped with internet and social media connectivity features. More than half of the Hispanic teenagers surveyed reported witnessing their parents send or read text messages while operating a motor vehicle, in comparison to the 38 percent of Caucasian teens and 44 percent of African American teens who reported seeing their parents drive while distracted by text based messaging.
