A recent study from Mass General Brigham paints a sobering picture: teenage drivers spend about 1 in every 5 minutes behind the wheel looking at their phones. Researchers surveyed over 1,100 teens nationwide and found that entertainment—like games, videos, and social media—is the biggest culprit, outranking navigation or emergency calls.

What’s most alarming is that teens admit nearly a quarter of these glances last two seconds or longer, long enough to drastically increase the risk of a crash.

Entertainment Takes the Wheel
The research, published in Traffic Injury Prevention, revealed that 65% of phone use was for entertainment, followed by texting (40%) and navigation (30%). This suggests many teens are driven by boredom rather than necessity when they reach for their phones. “Distracted driving is a serious public health threat and particularly concerning among young drivers,” said Dr. Rebecca Robbins of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “It puts everyone at risk—not just the driver.”

Peer Pressure at Play
The study also highlighted a dangerous social trend: even though most teens know distracted driving is risky, they believe “everyone does it.” This peer pressure normalizes unsafe behavior and makes it harder for teens to make safer choices.

Key Findings:
— Over 90% of teens admit to at least one form of distracted driving each trip
— Most know it’s dangerous and believe parents and mentors disapprove. Still, they see distracted driving as a normal part of teen life
— Many are overconfident about their ability to resist distractions, even though the numbers say otherwise

Despite laws banning phone use for young drivers in many states, distracted driving remains stubbornly common.

Changing the Culture: Hunter’s Fund in Action
At Hunter’s Fund, we’re working to change these dangerous behaviors—one campus at a time. Through Safe Driving Weeks on college campuses, we encourage students to sign pledges not to drive distracted. Why a pledge? Because research shows that
making a pledge can change behavior 47% more effectively than any other incentive.

So far, Hunter’s Fund has funded more than 200 Safe Driving Week campaigns, with over 100,000 students signing our pledge. Each signature is a step toward making safe driving the new normal—and saving lives in the process.

How You Can Help
Talk with your family about the dangers of distracted driving. If you’re a student, sign the pledge—and invite your friends and
parents to join you. Together, we can build a culture of safe driving, one campus and one conversation at a time.