An Unsavory Tonic: Teens, Texting and Driving

Sometimes I am amazed I survived adolescence. Whenever I see or hear a story of automobile crash involving teens, I do this auto-scan of times I found myself in an accident (twice) or in the car of a drunk peer, bracing myself and praying to God to get us all safely home (too many times). Being stick thin and of slight frame I learned early I could not hold a drink very well; and so I often volunteered to be a designated driver, taking my friends beyond the NY state line where the drinking age was still 18 -- not 21 like the state in which we lived. We called them New York parties, out in some wooded area, bon fires and kegs, fishermen's sweaters, and innocent flirtations with seniors.

The night of my high school graduation one student killed another, just slammed him down while he was getting in his car at the roadside, dragging him underneath the carriage. It was at a house party where the dad collected everyone's keys as some measure of safety. But it didn'€™t matter in the end. It broke the class of '83 and a number of families. The driver committed suicide the following year. The tragedy is still subtly reflected in reunions that seem to happen on an off year, a haphazard attempt to get together from time to time.

Unlike 25 years ago, seat belts are now the norm and the dinging in cars are a nuisanced reminder to buckle up, as part of the modern technology tuned in to broken brake lights and level of wiper fluid. But now there is a new technological danger while driving and it’s something just about every teen has: a cell phone.

A recent report on NPR, Multitasking In the Car: Just like Drunk Driving, hit this new reality home. Apparently, performance while driving using a cell phone “is as poor if you were legally drunk. I guess I need to demand that any sitter driving my kids around not use her phone or else she'€™s out of a job. But what about my own kids? They aren'€™t that many years away from driving -- and they are chatty as it is. They'€™ll both be fluent in text messaging in no time.

A colleague of mine created a CD-ROM for teens called Crash Site, funded by the National Institutes of Health. It was ingenious. It started out with the sounds of a car screeching and then the screen going black. The user would have to find out if he or she were the drunk driver, a passenger, the paramedic, or a lawyer. During the process the teen player would learn about blood alcohol levels, affects of alcohol on the brain, not to mention the emotional and legal consequences. Now we have cell phones to consider in the mix as well.

Of course, the most obvious role models are parents. I know I'€™m a queen of multitasking. But it seems to me banning the use of cell phone use in cars, short of an emergency, is the obvious next step.

Here's a listing of which states have taken a lead on cell phone driving laws (and it's only a minority): Governor€™'s Highway Safety Association.