• Parents Matter: 89 percent of teens said their parents are influential in encouraging safer driving.
• When Friends Become Foes: 44 percent of teens said they drive more safely without friends in the car.
• Tongue-Tied Teens: 67 percent of teens have felt unsafe when someone else was driving, but only 45 percent said they would speak up if someone was driving in a way that made them scared or uncomfortable.
• Driving with Distractions: 56 percent said they make and answer phone calls, and 13 percent send and respond to text messages while driving, yet 32 percent classified this behavior as “extremely” or “very” distracting.

“If I’m sober, I’m safe.”
Although alcohol is a factor in less than 25 percent of deadly teen crashes overall and in fewer than 10 percent of crashes among 16- to 17-year-olds, 51 percent of teens believe that most teen-related crashes result from drunk driving. In reality, far more crashes result from speeding and driver errors.

“Speeding is normal.”
55 percent of all teens surveyed said they sometimes exceed the speed limit by more than 10 miles per hour and 40 percent said they would speed in the coming year.

   “I got friends who drive safely. But other friends, they’re speeding all the time, racing on the streets.”  -- Male teen

“Driving dangerously shows that I’m a skilled driver.”
83 percent of teens surveyed agreed that people can be skilled drivers, but not safe drivers. Clearly, teens don’t equate good driving with safe driving and too many believe that a good driver is someone who can take chances behind the wheel without crashing.