Younger motorists, females likelier to use phones while driving

Washington: A new research has revealed that younger motorists and females were more likely to use their cell phones while driving than the older motorists and males.

The research conducted by The University of Texas Health Science Center suggested that people under the age of 25 were 4.12 times more likely to use cell phones while compared to older drivers and females were 1.63 times more likely to use cell phone while driving than male motorists.

R. Sue Day, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences said that people who use cell phones while driving pose a safety threat to pedestrians and motorists as they stop at randomly selected road intersections to talk or text on cell phone.

On the other hand, study observed that cell phone usage has been reduced over the years as it was 20.5 percent in 2011 and has dropped to 16.4 percent in 2013, but texting while driving has increased by 2 percent from 2011 and 2013.

Day added that their study showed that females and younger drivers were most likely to use the phone while driving that should be targeted under public safety campaigns.

The study was published in Preventive Medicine Reports.