Parents - Teens unaware driving behavior is risky

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Teens unaware driving behavior is risky

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (UPI) -- Car fatalities are the top killer of Alabama teens, often because of risky behaviors teens don't define as risky, researchers said.

Dr. Nancy Rhodes of the University of Alabama said her studies show teens experiment with different types of risky behavior, but risk-taking is especially dangerous behind the wheel of a car, and is prominent with high-school age young adults.

Rhodes' studies show that risky behaviors can include taking a curve too fast, being distracted by passengers or talking on a cell phone -- behaviors that teens often don't define as risky.

"Teens can look around them and see everyone else, including their parents, doing things they shouldn't while driving, such as using a cell phone, speeding or playing with the radio," Nita Hestevold of the University of Alabama Institute for Social Science Research.

"They don't understand that, while this behavior is unsafe for all drivers, younger drivers are less experienced and have not yet automated their driving skills, so the same behaviors put teen drivers at higher risk of crashing," he said.

Teenage drinking and driving only accounts for 10 percent of teens' crashes.

"For teens, bad choices are more likely to be made because of teens' inexperience and social pressures," Hestevold said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 07/21/2008

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