State Farm: Teens Copy Parents' Bad Driving Habits

And like a good neighbor...or perhaps a nosy backseat driver...State Farm is there, noting that parents are often culprits of the very driving dont's they scold their teens for. Today, the insurance company released the results of a survey that seem to show teens emulate their parents' driving more closely than parents might be aware of.

Specifically, State Farm found that among parents, "65 percent of parents talk on cell phones at least sometimes while driving; however 94 percent restrict their teens from doing the same." They also found that 68 percent of parents are at least occasionally guilty of being in a rush when they drive, and 65 percent also occasionally drive tired.

This parent survey is a follow-up to the agency's '07 National Young Driver Survey co-conducted with The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, which highlighted three main issues that pose danger to young drivers: driving while fatigued, talking on cell phones, and driving with multiple passengers.

Safety-conscious finger-pointing from your insurance company can be rather annoying. And yes, of course, busy parents sometimes have to take important phone calls, rush Junior to the soccer game, and get behind the wheel after a particular exhausting day. State Farm just wants to remind you that your kids are watching, and copying, your behavior. And for some unexplained reason, State Farm claims that October is the month with the single highest number of young driver claims involving injury or collision (football season? Halloween hunch punch? autumn reveries?).

Regardless, State Farm wants to save young lives and prevent injuries, and the insurance agency is again joining Congress in support of National Teen Driver Safety Week, Oct. 19- 25.--Colin Mathews