cellphone use while driving is a major contributor to motor vehicle accidents across the united states yet a new study finds that despite widespread public health warnings about distracted driving the majority of parents are still using their phones on the road with one group in particular facing the most risk millennials as more millennials become parents researchers from harvards brigham and womens hospital were interested in seeing if their driving habits were any different from older parents given their use of technology the researchers found that even though 52 of millennial parents ages 22 to 37 years in 2018 and 57 of parents over 37 years old said it was never safe to text and drive nearly twothirds of all parents admitted to reading text messages while driving and over half said they sent text messages too this compulsion to use our cellphones while driving comes from the modernday need to always be reachable the studys lead author dr regan bergmark of the center for surgery and public health at brigham and womens hospital told abc news more the dangers of distracted driving but using your phone while driving bergmark said hinders three key components of safe driving attention vision and hands on the wheel she said that when these arent prioritized drivers face the highest risk of getting in a crash motor vehicle accidents consistently rank among the top causes of death across age groups the study published in jama pediatrics involved a nationally representative group of over 400 parents who took part in the distracted driving survey which asked them about their behaviors while driving including whether they texted or used email social media or maps it also asked about their cell phone use with and without children in the car and the speeds they reached while carrying out these activities although the majority of adults involved in the study indicated that they drove distractedly millennial parents were most likely to be distracted by risky activities beyond texting such as responding to emails and using maps about 16 of millennial parents had been in at least one crash in the year prior to taking the survey compared to 10 of older parents but this difference was not significant the study said more pedestrian deaths hit 28year high as distracted drivers and larger cars hit the roads study although the american academy of pediatrics routinely highlights the importance of using the correct car safety seat and seatbelt discussions around the dangers of distracted driving dont always make it to the doctors office in fact only 20 of adults surveyed said they remember their childrens pediatrician talking about these issues bergmark said that doctors could put more effort into reminding parents not to text and drive but she also pointed out that technology doesnt always have to be a threat to safety it can be the solution too many phones for example come with do not disturb functions that can be turned on while driving when