Adults Text While Driving More Than Teens

Adults are more likely than teenagers to text while driving, a practice that greatly increases motorists' chances of getting into an accident, a study shows.

Nearly half of all texting adults say they have sent or read a text message on their mobile phone while driving, compared to one in three texting teens ages 16 and 17, the Pew Internet & American Life Project found in a survey released Friday. Overall, Pew found that 27% of all U.S. adults say they have sent or read text messages behind the wheel.

Pew also found that 49% of adults say they have been passengers in a car when a driver was sending or reading text messages. Overall, 44% of adults say they have been passengers of drivers who have used a mobile phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger. The numbers were about equal to those of teens.

Besides motorists, pedestrians can also get into trouble while texting. The study found that one in six cell phone-toting adults have physically bumped into another person or an object while talking or texting on their phone.

:story: Full story: InformationWeek