Data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that 14 percent of all crashes are distraction related, and 7 percent involve cellphone use. While police reports include information about the factors contributing to a crash, determining whether distraction was a factor is not always possible. To get a more accurate picture, the American Automobile Association’s Foundation for Traffic Safety recently conducted a study that collected data on the causes of teen car crashes.

The teens who participated in the study were licensed drivers between the ages of 16 and 19. Researchers reviewed the last six seconds caught by in-vehicle cameras before crashes and discovered that distraction was a contributing factor 58 percent of the time. Surprisingly, cellphone use contributed to only 12 percent of the crashes, and was not the primary distraction-related behavior.

Even though the new statistics are 5 percent higher than those gathered by the NHTSA, texting and driving is still not the primary source of distraction for teen drivers. In 15 percent of the crashes recorded, the driver was interacting with a passenger. Approximately 84 percent of the passengers were also teenagers. AAA’s Keys2Drive points out that New York has strict licensing laws for teens that limit who can ride with 16- and 17-year-olds to passengers over the age of 21. However, when a teen with a license turns 18, the restrictions on passengers are automatically lifted without further testing.

Driving skills are affected when a person takes one or both hands off the steering wheel, looks away from the road, or thinks about anything other than driving. Distracted drivers of any age pose a threat to everyone on the road. However, teen drivers are more likely to have a car accident while distracted because they have not yet fully mastered the tasks associated with operating a motor vehicle, and driving requires more concentration.