Parents, Drive Safely; Your Teens Are Watching (NAPSA)—When behind the wheel, parents may want to think twice before picking up their cell phones. New survey results reveal that parents unknowingly may be contributing to their teens’ risky driving behaviors by not practicing what they preach, such as talking on their phones while driving. The results showed that before parents handover the keys to their young drivers, many enforce driving restrictions to help curb unsafe behaviors. However, the majority of parents are not following the safe driving advice they give their teens in manysituations: * 65 percent of parents talk on cell phones at least sometimes while driving; however, 95 percent restrict their teens from doing the same * 68 percent of parents are in a hurry at least sometimes when they drive * 65 percent of parents drive when they are tired at least sometimes. “Distracted driving is a leading cause of teen driver crashes andit’s crucial parents talk to their teens about avoiding such distractions, like talking on cell phones,” said Laurette Stiles, vice president of strategic resources at State Farm. “To help instill these safe driving habits in teen drivers, it’s even more important parents follow their own advice, especially when their teens are riding with them.” a —\ eV A mothertalks on her cell phone while driving with her teen driver, an example of how parents unknowingly may be contributing to teens’ risky driving behaviors. The parent survey identified how parents approach their driver’s education roles and work with their youngdrivers to avoid behaviors that commonly lead to vehicle crashes, the No. 1 killer of U.S. teenagers. The survey is a followup to the 2007 National YoungDriver Survey, conducted by State Farm and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which examined driving through the eyes of teens and found that they are driving under dangerous conditions: * 89 percent of teens said they see their peers talking on cell phones while driving at least sometimes 91 percent of teens said they see their peers driving in a hurry at least sometimes 75 percent of teens said they see their peers drive when they are tired at least sometimes. For tips and tools to help teach teens to drive, visit State Farm’s teen driver safety Facebook page.
