Parents, if you want to set a good example for your teens while you’re teaching them how to drive, put down your cell phone. A new study out says that parents are prone to check their phones while teaching driving skills.

This study, which was conducted by State Farm, surveyed 517 teens and their parents to find out how teens learn to drive. The study found that 61 percent of teens say their parents have been distracted by their phone at least once while teaching them to drive. It goes on to say that 29 percent of teens say their parents have been distracted sometimes, often, or all the time while giving the driving lesson.

When talking to the parents, 53 percent of them admit to being distracted at least once while teaching their teens how to drive. And disagreeing with what their teens said,only 17 percent of parents say that they are distracted sometimes, often, or all the time.

When it’s the parent’s turn to drive, 54 percent of teens say they have seen parents talk while driving either sometimes, often, or all the time, while 43 percent of parents admit to doing it with their teens present.

Other interesting numbers to come out of this study include that 24 percent of parents and 30 percent of teens say they aren’t spending enough time learning how to drive. Teens need about 100 hours of driving practice before taking the car out on their own, and parents need to practice what they preach – which means paying complete attention to what their teen driver is doing behind the wheel.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Have you ever wondered why women get cheaper auto insurance than men? Is it because of their safer driving habits? According to a new study out of England, it might be because they are lying when they apply for car insurance.

New research from eInsurance Group reported that 20 percent of its insurance policies sold in May resulted in fraud investigations, with 51 percent of declined applications coming from women and 49 percent from men. So what were drivers lying about? The top three fibs to make the list are: not disclosing convictions (total 47 percent – 64 percent male, 36 percent female); misleading information about how long they’ve held a license (total 32 percent – 32 percent male, 68 percent female); and lying about possessing a no-claims discount (total 19 percent – 47 percent male, 53 percent female).

“These results show that basing insurance premiums on gender alone is misguided,” said Alan Sanderson, CEO of eInsurance Group. “The insurers should do more to tackle the liars, whoever they are, and reward honest drivers.”

What do you think about this report? Do you think the policy of charging men more than women for auto insurance is fair or is this study just a fluke? Leave us your thoughts in the comments section below.

Going out for a drive this summer? Don’t forget to wear your sunscreen. There’s a new study out that warns us that people in the US are more likely to develop skin cancer on the left side of their bodies. And the cause could be driving.

You know how on a nice, warm day, you roll down the window and rest your arm, letting it soak up some rays? Well, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, this could lead to cancer. Using a large government database, researchers from the University of Washington took a look at melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma, two deadly forms of skin cancer. They were surprised to find that when these types of cancers were found on just one side of the body, it showed up predominantly on the left side (that’s more than half of the cases). So what could be the cause? Researchers think that exposure to ultraviolet rays on the driver’s side could be the culprit.

Even though driving with the windows up offers some protection, you can still get burned by the sun. And if you choose to roll it down or take the top off (of your car, that is), your exposure increases. So perhaps applying sunscreen should be made part of your daily routine in the morning. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

We all know the side effects of speeding – tickets, loss of points, perhaps even ending up in an accident. Now a new Canadian study shows that driving decreases life expectancy.

For all you drivers with heavy feet, the study presents some eye-opening facts. It determines that every hour you spend behind the wheel leads to a 20-minute loss of life expectancy (this is due to the risks of a fatal car crash). But here’s the good news – it also found that by slowing down just two miles per hour, the average driver would increase their life expectancy by three hours per year. Sure, it may not seem like much, but it all adds up in the end.

“When drivers speed to get to their destination faster, they actually lose more time because the savings from faster travel are offset by the increased prospect of a crash,” says Dr. Donald Redelmeier, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and the lead investigator in the study.

Make small changes to your driving habits and reap big rewards. By showing down just 2 mph, it would translate to approximately 3 million fewer property-damage crashes, one million fewer injurious crashes, and 9,000 fewer fatalities. In dollars, it could reduce crash-related property damage by about $10 million each day – not too shabby for adding a couple of minutes onto your drive time.

Researchers based their findings on a combination of computerized traffic modeling, national statistics covering driving on public roadways, and the laws of physics. Results were calculated by the computer model by taking into account average distances and time drivers in the United States spend traveling daily, the number of annual crashes categorized as fatal, injuries and property damage, and the expected time losses due to accidents.

[Source: Kicking Tires]