Regina - being a teen also indicates being responsible, especially on the road. This is shown to be true by teeners in Canada, which has been found to have fewer teens who text while driving. Texting while driving has caused a lot of danger on the road, some even leading to death. The behavior is prevalent among youngsters in many countries all over the world. It seems that in Canada, or at least in some of its largest areas, the behavior is being dealt with accordingly.
A CTV News Canada report says that Sean Tucker, an associate professor from the University of Regina, has conducted a study on teenagers' driving habits. The findings show a drop on the number of teens who say they sometimes or almost always text while driving. From 27 percent in 2012, the figure fell to six percent in 2014. Teens have indicated that the reason for the much safer behavior is that they think it is irresponsible and dangerous.
Tucker has surveyed over 4,000 teens in the 2014 study. More than 6,000 teens have participated in the study in 2012. The youngsters are mostly residents of Ontario, and they have also been asked why they stopped texting while driving. "The top reason for a significant decrease in texting while driving was the perceived danger and irresponsibility of the activity and 27 per cent of the people said that," Tucker said.
Texting while driving falls under distracted driving, and those who are caught doing so can be fined for that. It seems that the teenagers have also become increasingly aware of the consequences of the behavior, as some of them even cited laws and fines regarding texting while driving. Others have recounted being close to having accidents because of the habit.
Fines for distracted driving vary across Canada. Ontario has implemented stiffer fines for texting while driving. The fine has been increased to a CAD $490, and three demerit points will be given to the driver upon conviction. Saskatchewan has also implemented a legislation, which bans drivers from using cellular phones while driving. The legislation has been implemented in 2010.
Tucker and research co-author Simon Pek of Simon Fraser University have begun conducting a similar study in Saskatchewan this week.
