New study finds texting and driving kills and injures more teens than drinking and driving, and is becoming more prevalent

A new study finds that texting while driving has become more dangerous among teenagers than drinking and driving, and it says the number of teens who are dying or being injured as a result of this habit has "skyrocketed."

Nationwide, more than 3,000 teens are killed and 300,000 are injured as a result of texting and driving, compared to 2,700 deaths and 282,000 injuries from drinking and driving, said researchers at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

"A person who is texting can be as impaired as a driver who is legally drunk," said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Cohen.

Adesman and his team found that the number of teens who text and drive exceed the number who drink and drive, that more boys admit to texting than girls, and that texting increases with age, writes Delthia Ricks of Newsday. While teens' texting is increasing, the CDC reports alcohol use among teen drivers has decreased by 54 percent over the past 14 years.

On Wednesday, officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration described texting as among the worst of driver distractions, and Adesman says texting is as hazardous as "drinking and driving, binge drinking, drug and tobacco use, unsafe sex and tanning devices," writes Ricks.

"We have very strong taboos against drinking and driving. Kids don't drink and drive every day," Adesman said. "But some kids are out there texting and driving seven days a week -- and they admit it."

High gas prices = fewer traffic accidents, including DUI mishaps

There is one benefit to gasoline prices reaching nearly $4 a gallon: The rate of traffic accidents, including drink-driving accidents, goes down as gas prices go up.

These were the findings in a study by Mississippi State University's Social Science Research Center, which "analyzed total traffic crashes between April 2004 and December 2008, comparing gas prices to traffic safety statistics," research reporting service Newswise reports. SSRC demographer Guangquing Chi looked at factors including age, gender and race.

"The results suggest that prices have both short-term and intermediate-term effects on reducing traffic crashes," Chi said. The short-term impact involves younger drivers. Intermediate-term impact is related to older drivers and men. Short-term impact "refers to immediate effects, for example how a current month's average gasoline prices affect the same month's traffic crashes. Intermediate-term impact refers to effects over a one-year subsequent time period," Newswise reports. (Read more)