Prevalence of and attitudes about distracted driving in college students

To identify current distracted driving (DD) behaviors among college students, primarily those involving cell phone use, and elucidate the opinions of the students on the most effective deterrent or intervention for reducing cell phone use.

Students enrolled at 12 colleges and universities were recruited to participate in an online, anonymous survey. Recruitment was done via school-based list-serves and posters. School sizes ranged from 476 to over 30,000. The validated survey included 38 questions; 17 were specifically related to distracted driving.

Four thousand nine hundred sixty-four participants completed the surveys; the average age was 21.8, 66% were female, 82.7% were undergraduates, and 47% were white/non-Hispanic. Additionally, 4,517 (91%) reported phoning and/or texting while driving; 4,467 (90%) of drivers said they talk on the phone while driving; 1,241 (25%) reported using a hands-free device "most of the time"; 4,467 (90%) of drivers reported texting while driving; 2,488 (50%) reported sending texts while driving on the freeway; 2,978 (60%) while in stop-and-go traffic or on city streets; and 4,319 (87%) at traffic lights. Those who drove more often were more likely to drive distracted. When asked about their capability to drive distracted, 46% said they were capable or very capable of talking on a cell phone and driving, but they felt that only 8.5% of other drivers were capable. In a multivariate model, 9 predictors explained 44% of the variance in DD, which was statistically significant, F (17, 4945) = 224.31; P <.0001; R(2) = 0.44. The four strongest predictors (excluding driving frequency) were self-efficacy (i.e., confidence) in driving while multitasking (β = 0.37), perception of safety of multitasking while driving (β = 0.19), social norms (i.e., observing others multitasking while driving; β = 0.29), and having a history of crashing due to multitasking while driving (β = 0.11).

Distracted driving is a highly prevalent behavior among college students who have higher confidence in their own driving skills and ability to multitask than they have in other drivers' abilities. Drivers' self-efficacy for driving and multitasking in the car, coupled with a greater likelihood of having witnessed DD behaviors in others, greatly increased the probability that a student would engage in DD. Most students felt that policies, such as laws impacting driving privilege and insurance rate increases, would influence their behavior.