Many of the campaigns to stop texting and driving have been aimed at hyper-connected teens, but a new survey from AT&T shows adults are more likely to be driving distracted.

Nearly half of adults surveyed, 49 percent, said they text and drive — even though nearly all of them say they know the habit is dangerous. Ninety-eight percent of adult drivers surveyed said they know that distracted driving isn’t safe. But the trend actually appears to be on the rise, AT&T said, as six out of 10 drivers said they never texted behind the wheel just three years ago.

Top reasons adults gave for their behavior were that sending a text while driving has become second nature, they feel it makes them more productive and it helps them feel connected.

While the survey showed adults were more likely to engage in the bad habit, 43 percent of teenagers also said they were sending messages while behind the wheel.

The survey provided a bit more data on why young people choose to text and drive. One reason is that most text-message users expect a reply within five minutes or less — 48 percent of teenagers said they expect a response right away once they fire off a text message.

Parents’ behavior, teenagers said, has a big influence on their own actions. AT&T found that not having a parental rule against texting and driving is among the greatest predictors that a teenager will send messages while driving. Other factors included whether a teenager had a full- or part-time job, owned a smartphone or usually sent over 100 text messages per day.

 

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