Parenting Pep Talk: Your Kids Will Pick Up Your Driving Habits
Most parents would avidly report that they want their children focused on the road while driving. Yet, when their children are passengers, parents frequently engage in distracting behaviors such as texting while driving. Parents risk their lives and those of their children by driving while distracted, and their children are likely to model these behaviors, placing their own and others’ lives at risk. It’s a vicious cycle.
The Center for Disease Control’s latest National Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that:
- Nearly HALF of all U.S. high school students aged 16 years or older text or email while driving.
- Students who text while driving are nearly TWICE as likely to ride with a driver who has been drinking and FIVE TIMES as likely to drink and drive than students who don’t text while driving.
- Students who frequently text while driving are more likely to ride with a drinking driver or drink and drive than students who text while driving less frequently.
And the numbers are likely rising as an increasing number of teens have access to smartphones and tablets. The website, www.textinganddrivingsafety.com reported a number of statistics this year.
Most notably, texting while driving:
- Causes 11 teen deaths EVERY DAY.
- Causes nearly 25% of ALL car accidents.
- Makes you 23 times more likely to crash.
Many states have enacted laws intended to prevent certain types of distracted driving (e.g., disallowing hand-held devices), yet many individuals continue to engage in risky behaviors. In addition, the law is not always on safety’s side. Because the law allows hands-free devices, they are commonly thought to be safe to use. They’re not. Recent research by the AAA found that both hand-held and hands-free communications are equally distracting while driving. In addition, “speech-to-text” systems were far more distracting than talking to a person or listening to the radio. Driving was most impaired when drivers were asked to perform “Operation Span” exercises (tasks that require working memory such as math problems), so refrain from quizzing your teens on upcoming test material while in the car!
Technology has not been successfully deployed to reduce distractions in the car. Car companies can make Facebook as common a feature as GPS. Drivers can listen to their feeds, reply, and possibly even play games. In essence, drivers will have increased access to another highly distracting “speech-to-text” system, in addition to the plethora of smartphone apps that already exist.
This information should be unnerving. No parent wants to find out that they lost a child because they were texting “LOL” or “Driving…TTYL” to a friend. No child wants to believe that they lost a parent because they had a work email that just couldn’t wait. Even before your children are of driving age, they are observing you, learning from you, and looking up to you. Model responsible driving, and make them more likely to internalize your values. It could prove to be the most life-saving lesson you give.
Dr. Jaime Black is a licensed psychologist practicing in Westchester and New York City. In addition to providing general mental health services, Jaime works with individuals of all ages on the autism spectrum, doing psychotherapy, conducting evaluations, and facilitating social skills groups. Visit www.spectrumservicesnyc.com, e-mail JaimeBlackPsyD@gmail.com or call (914)712-8208.
Examiner Media – Keeping you informed with professionally-reported local news, features, and sports coverage.
