Allstate Survey Says Teens Need To Be More Responsible Drivers

Many teens do not take personal responsibility for safe driving and continue to engage in dangerous driving behaviors, according to the results of a survey released by Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate Insurance.

While nearly 90 percent of teens surveyed said they hope their friends will be safer on the road in 2008, just 11 percent included "driving more safely" among their personal New Year's resolutions. One-third, 34 percent, of teens surveyed reported being frightened as a passenger because the driver was being careless, but did not say anything to the driver.

"Our survey found that teens are making New Year's resolutions about getting better grades, exercising more and other good things, but far too few are resolving to be safer drivers," said Victoria Dinges, Allstate assistant vice president of public social responsibility. "Car accidents are the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S., and the holidays are among the most dangerous times of the year for teens on the road. Unfortunately, our survey shows that teens have other things on their mind than driving safely."

Of those teens surveyed, approximately 40 percent said they plan to exercise more and 40 percent hope to improve their grades, Allstate said, while only 11 percent will resolve to drive safer in 2008, ranking dead last in the survey.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents admitted to driving more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit; 22 percent have raced another vehicle and 19 percent have received a traffic ticket. Eighteen percent of respondents admitted to being a passenger in a car being driven by a teen who was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Allstate said teens that are willing to break traffic laws were concerned for their friends' safety. Forty one percent said they wanted to see friends wear their seatbelts while driving, and forty percent that their friends' speeding was a concern.

More than two-thirds of teens surveyed said they wanted their friends to avoid technology distractions, such as texting, talking on a cell phone, or scrolling through an MP3 player, while driving.

"These are alarming results considering every year for the past decade between 5,000 and 6,000 teenagers were killed in motor vehicle accidents," said Ms. Dinges. "No other hazard or behavior comes close to claiming as many teen lives.

She stressed that parents need to talk to their teens and give guidance during the critical first formative years of driving.

The survey, designed and conducted by Northbrook-based TRU, a youth-research specialist, polled 917 teens between the ages 16 to 18. The interviews were conducted online to avoid any bias that adult-administered surveys may have. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. The survey was conducted Dec. 7 to 14.