Survey: Most teen drivers still text while driving

Bad news for road safety: A majority of teens surveyed said they text while driving.

The survey for insurer State Farm, conducted in February by Harris Interactive, found that just 43 percent of drivers ages 16 and 17 said they have never texted while driving. That figure remains unchanged from the 2010 version of the survey, despite campaigns aimed at reducing the dangerous habit.

The telephone survey of 652 teens ages 14-17 also found:

• 63 percent said they strongly agree they will get into an accident if they regularly text and drive.
• 83 percent said they strongly agree they will get into an accident if they regularly drink and drive.
• Fewer teen drivers reported they "very often" text while driving, and more said they do it "rarely" than in the 2010 survey.
• 46 percent of teens with a learner's permit said they talk very often with their parents about driving, compared to just 22 percent of teens who have their driver's license. The study noted that the highest lifetime risk for experiencing a crash is during the first year after receiving a license.

"The conversation should not end when teens get their license," Chris Mullen, director of technology research at State Farm, said in a news release. "Through this survey and other teen driver research, we know that ongoing parental involvement in the learning process is key to keeping teen drivers safe behind the wheel." l

Teens might gain a better grasp of the dangers of driving while not paying attention with Tuesday's season premiere of the Fox TV show "Glee."

In a cliffhanger from last season, the show featured a distracted driving crash.

April is Distracted Driving Month.