About 51 percent of New Mexico teenagers have been in a car with a driver who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to a study completed by two UNM communications and journalism graduate students last week. The research also found that about 69 percent of teenagers text message while driving.
Students Laura Burton and Tatjana Rosev partnered with SafeTeen New Mexico to research teenagers and risky driving behaviors.
Burton said there is a correlation between riding with impaired drivers and risky driving behaviors.
"The more they have ridden with an impaired adult, the more they engage in dangerous behaviors and the more they think those behaviors are safe," she said.
The majority of these impaired drivers were the students' own parents, according to the study.
"The behavior was witnessed by teens, so they're more likely to participate in these behaviors," Burton said.
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Al Guadagnoli, a driving school instructor, said when teenagers see their parents repeatedly risking their lives, they will think it's OK.
"Humans are creatures of habit," he said.
Guadagnoli said people don't realize how much damage their behavior could cause.
"Some students have said they have had to drive their parents home," he said. "They look at the consequences and want to keep their family intact."
Thom Turbett, president and founder of SafeTeen, said the organization helps high school students see the dangers of reckless driving.
Burton said working with SafeTeen has changed her career path.
"As graduate students, it gives us an opportunity to apply what we're learning about research and to apply it in a real-life situation and have a real-life impact," Burton said.
Turbett said SafeTeen does research and also conducts driving awareness assemblies at least once every four years at high schools throughout the city.
"That way, we catch every student at least once," he said.
The research project asked students to evaluate how risky certain behaviors were before and after the assembly.
Research showed that after watching the SafeTeen assembly, students changed their views of risk and assessed some behaviors as more risky than they had before the assembly, Burton said.
"Whether you're impaired by alcohol or impaired by these other behaviors, they're still impairing your driving," she said.
Rosev said the research was conducted on high school students, but college students engage in these behaviors, as well.
"We think our findings can be extrapolated to other populations," she said.
Rosev said everyone needs to acknowledge the research findings and change for the better.
"Many of us try to downplay the risks associated with those behaviors - we think it's not going to be a problem," Rosev said. "Our findings show it is very distracting, risky behavior, and we need to take it seriously."
