Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog
To help to stop teen car accidents in Quincy and elsewhere, AT&T recently launched its “It Can Wait” campaign.
The campaign started in the state of Massachusetts back in 2011 and since then organizations and law enforcement agencies across the country have joined in to help to raise awareness about the risks of distracted driving among teen drivers nationwide, according to The New York Times. This campaign usually takes place during the summer months because it’s during this time that teen drivers face the most dangerous risks for car accidents.
“Memorial Day is the beginning of the 100 deadliest days of the year for teen drivers,” said president of AT&T in the New England area, Patricia Jacobs.
Our Quincy car accident lawyers understand that teens know that texting while driving is dangerous. Studies prove it! Unfortunately, studies also show that these young drivers are still sending and receiving text messages behind the wheel. According to a recent AT&T study, more than 95 percent of teens know that it’s dangerous to text and drive at the same time. The same study also revealed that nearly 45 percent of these young drivers are still texting behind the wheel and another 75 percent say that their friends are doing it on a regular basis.
The study revealed that teens feel peer pressure from their buddies to respond to these messages quickly and that’s why they’re not waiting. The study also illustrated that parents and other adults are setting a poor example behind the wheel, leading these young drivers to believe that it’s okay to text and drive.
It’s going to be tough to get these young drivers to put the phones away while they’re on our roadways. Text messages rank as the number one mode of communication among this young age group. Recent studies conclude that teens text about five times more than most adults in a day. When this is going on behind the wheel, teens are nearly 25 times more likely to be in a near-accident or an actual accident on our roadways.
Highlights of the AT&T study:
-Nearly 90 percent of teens say that they expect to get a reply to a text message or an email within 5 minutes of sending the message.
-Three quarters of teens know that texting while driving is dangerous, yet nearly 45 percent still do it!
-About 70 percent of teens say that it’s still dangerous to text while stopped at a stop light.
-About 60 percent of teen say that they will text at a red light and another 75 percent say that they’ll at least peek at their phone at a red light.
-More than 60 percent of teens admit to glancing at their phone while driving. The same number of teens say that they’ll read or send an email or text while driving.
-Nearly 80 percent of teens say that adults tell them not to text and drive but these same adults text while driving.
-More than 40 percent of teens say they see their own parents send or read texts and emails while driving.
If you or someone you love has been injured or killed in a car accident in Quincy or elsewhere in the state of Massachusetts, contact Massachusetts Injury Lawyer Jeffrey S. Glassman to set up a free and confidential appointment to discuss your rights. Call (617) 777-7777.
More Blog Entries:
Intersection Car Accident in Somerville Sends Seven to Hospital, Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog, May 18, 2012