Researchers in the UAB Department of Pediatrics found that Alabama parents living in suburban areas use cellphones in the speaker mode, read and send text messages, and surf the web slightly more often than parents in rural areas. Cellphone use among parents who are transporting children is part of a dangerous distracted driving epidemic all too common in Alabama.

“Cellphone use is one of the most common driving distractions among young and adult drivers,” said Kimberly Massey, M.D., principal investigator of the study published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and former fellow in the UAB Department of Pediatrics. “This study proves that further research on how to best implement injury-prevention interventions should be done to target high-risk areas with distracted driving behaviors, like Alabama suburbs.”

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