Photo Credit: Steven Parker
A recent article on the Today Show website highlights a nationwide survey of 1,700 teenagers showing that 91 percent reported their parents talk on a cell phone while driving, 88 percent say they’ve caught them speeding and 59 percent have seen their parents texting and driving. Are you setting a good example for your kids while on the road?
The survey, conducted by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), also showed that two-thirds of teens believe their parents live by different rules than the ones they set for their kids. Similarly to the above mentioned statistics, 90 percent of the surveyed teens talk on their cell phones while driving, 94 percent admit to speeding and 78 percent say they text and drive.
“Your kids are always observing the decisions you make behind the wheel, and in fact have likely been doing so since they were big enough to see over the dashboard,” said Dave Melton, a driving safety expert with Liberty Mutual Insurance and managing director of global safety. “You may think you only occasionally read a text at a stop light or take the odd 30-second phone call, but kids are seeing that in a different way. Answering your phone once while driving, even if only for a few seconds, legitimizes the action for your children and they will, in turn, see that as acceptable behavior.”
BMWK””What bad habits have you committed while driving? How will you keep your kids from picking your bad driving habits and those of others?
