One of the biggest dangers facing teens behind the wheel doesn’t stem from alcohol or drugs or texting. It’s having company. According to a study out of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and sponsored by State Farm Insurance, the majority of teens involved in serious automobile accidents were distracted shortly before they crashed. “Among the teens who said they were distracted by something inside the vehicle before they crashed, 71 percent of males and 47 percent  of females said they were distracted directly by the actions of their passengers,” says Allison Curry, director of epidemiology for the Center for Injury Research and Prevention. It’s not just the passengers who are at fault. The study found that teens who often drove with multiple passengers in their cars were likely to consider themselves thrill-seekers, and they often felt as though their parents were fairly lax. They were also less likely to be aware of the risks involved with getting behind the wheel. “The good news is these teens make up the minority,” says Jessica Mirman, an author of the study. “Teens in this study generally reported strong perceptions of the risks of driving, low frequencies of driving with multiple passengers and strong beliefs that their parents monitored their behavior and set rules.” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)