CBS News Poll: Teens And Driving

Many teenagers who say they know how to drive admit they don't yet have drivers' licenses.

More than a third of all teens say they have ridden with a teenager who was speeding or running stop signs or traffic lights. 64% of teens ages 13 to 18 say they know how to drive, but only 23% have a license. The numbers claiming to know how to drive increase with age. Among 16 year olds, 86% say they can drive, but only 42% have a license.

Whether or not teenagers themselves drive, many have ridden with other teens who don't drive safely. 36% of all teens have, sometime during this school year, ridden with a teenage driver who was speeding or running lights and stop signs. That percentage also increases with age. Among 16 year old teens, 57% have ridden with an unsafe teenage driver in the last year.

This poll was conducted among a nation-wide random sample of 1,048 teenagers, aged 13 to 17, interviewed by telephone April 2-7, 1998. The error due to sampling could be plus or minus three percentage points for results based on the entire sample.

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