Large percentages of teenagers admitted that they engage in dangerous behaviors while driving as varied as changing contact lenses to doing homework . Twenty-seven per cent of those surveyed said that they have changed clothes or shoes behind the wheel . 'Teens are busy , I guess , ' lead author David Hurwitz of Oregon State University told NPR . Large percentages of teenagers admitted that they text or change their clothes and shoes while behind the wheel . The young adults , aged 14 to 18 in Washington , Oregon and Idaho , responded to questions about their driving habits for his study , published in the Journal of Transportation Safety & Security . Other distractions including changing radio stations , adjusting a GPS system , putting on makeup and a teenager who admitted playing guitar while driving . Cellphones are the biggest dangers to both adults and teenagers . Forty per cent out of 1400 Pacific Northwest teens said they had texted while driving , which is a decline from earlier studies . Distracted driving is the leading cause of among all drivers , including teenagers . More than 3,000 people were killed by distracted driving in 2012 , according to the Centers for Disease Control . Distracting behaviors , which are thought to contribute to more than 3,000 accident deaths a year , vary from texting ( right ) to putting on makeup ( left ) Practices such as texting can be especially dangerous to young drivers . Eleven per cent of all drivers under 20 in fatal car accidents were distracted when they crashed . Dr Hurwitz took teenagers into a classroom to demonstrate that completing simple tasks like writing on a chalkboard were much harder when attention was being pulled away by telephone conversations or other distractions . The scientist said that after the class , 'students were slightly better at recognizing the risks of multitasking behind the wheel , ' to Yahoo News . Many states have laws against young drivers texting or speaking on the phone while driving .
Forty per cent of Pacific Northwest drivers admitted texting while driving . Oregon State University study said 27 per cent changed clothes or shoes . More than 3,000 people died from distracted driving in 2012 .