Times, they are a’changing.

A new CDC survey of more than 15,000 high school students shows some interesting trends: the risky behaviors teens engage in behind the wheel are changing.

In 1991, 26% of teens admitted to “never or rarely” buckling up for a drive.  Twenty years later, only 8% admit to the same risky behavior.  That’s a terrific reduction, and it shows that the positive messages of driver education can make a difference.  Likewise, the number of teens who admitted to either drinking while driving or riding with someone who had dropped by half.  These two particular risks have plagued teens (and driving instructors) for the past 50 years, and finally seem to be on the decline – only to be replaced.

The new survey finds that a third of teens admit to texting while driving, and more teens now smoke pot than cigarettes, believing marijuana to be “safer” than tobacco.

Texting while driving is now illegal in Pennsylvania, but teens face only minor fines if they’re actually caught.  Not all states treat the issue so lightly – Massachusetts recently convicted a teen of vehicular homicide for texting while driving.  As for the rise in pot usage, blame an overly-aggressive anti-smoking campaign combined with a media spotlight on medical marijuana for confusing our kids.  Whatever side of the cancer argument you might be on, no one questions that the active ingredients in marijuana impair safe driving ability.  It’s hard to make that argument about tobacco.

There are more than 8 million licensed drivers in our state alone.  The roads become more congested and more dangerous every year, and our teens are becoming more and more impaired, by technology and by materials they consume without understanding the dangers.

PARENTS, WHAT YOU CAN DO

Make sure that you have a Driving Contract with your newly licensed teen, and make sure that it explicitly forbids texting and marijuana use, in addition to forbidding drinking and other drugs.  Have a talk with them about what marijuana can do to their mind, or have them talk with someone who knows.  Install software on their phone which disables the ability to text while driving.

And keep up the seat belt messages – at least we’re getting through to them on that one.