Distracted Driving Is a Major Killer in Texas. Meet the Teens Trying to Stop It.
- National Passenger Safety Campaign
- Oct 15
- 1 min read
Increasingly, high school students feel empowered to speak out against unsafe driving. They’ve seen that it can work.
by Bethel Kifle, Cindy Tint, Yaneli Victoriano, Jose Negrete and Cara Kelly
This story was created as part of a news writing workshop by Youthcast Media Group®, which offers free and paid training in multimedia journalism to diverse high school students from under-resourced communities.
Teens are taking to the road every day in Texas as newly-minted drivers and passengers. And safety activists are trying new strategies to ensure they get home alive.
Car crashes remain a leading cause of death for teens, eclipsed only recently by gun violence. But the causes of fatal crashes — much like the new generation at risk of experiencing them — have changed. Cell phones, touch screens, talk-to-text, and other distractions have emerged as serious threats to safe driving. Nearly one in six car crashes on Texas roadways were caused by distracted driving in 2023, according to the Texas Department of Transportation, taking the lives of 399 people. Nearly 2,800 others suffered serious injuries. Across the country, distraction played a role in 8% of fatal crashes and 12% of crashes that caused injury in 2022, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.