title: Do as I say, not as I do: Distracted driving behavior of teens and their parents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Driver distraction is an important contributor to crash risk. Teenage driver distraction can be influenced by the attitudes and behaviors of parents. This study examined teens' and their parents' engagement in distracting behavior while driving.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey data were collected from a national sample of 403 parent-teen dyads using random-digit dialing telephone interviews.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results demonstrated few parent or teen sex differences in distracting behavior engagement while driving, or in their perceptions of each others' behavior. Parents and teens' frequencies of distracting behavior engagement were positively correlated. Parents' and teens' perceptions of each others' distracting behavior engagement while driving exceeded their own selfreports. Finally, the likelihood that teens reported engaging in distracting behavior while driving was more strongly associated with their perceptions of their parents' distracting behavior than by parents' self reports of their own behavior.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that parents' examples of driving behavior are an important influence on teen driving behavior, but potentially more important are teens' perceptions of their parents' behaviors.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, 2901 Baxter Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2150, United States. Electronic address: rbingham@umich.edu.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Raymond Bingham
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, 2901 Baxter Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2150, United States.
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Zakrajsek
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, 2901 Baxter Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2150, United States.
authors.forename: Farideh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Almani
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, 2901 Baxter Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2150, United States.
authors.forename: Jean T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Shope
authors.affiliation: Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing, North America, Toyota Technical Center, 1555 Woodridge Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, United States.
authors.forename: Tina B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Sayer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention; D001290:Attitude; D001334:Automobile Driving; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D010290:Parents; D010465:Perception; D012306:Risk; D012309:Risk-Taking; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Behavior modeling; Driver distraction; Parents; Teen drivers