Lately I’ve noticed a lot of my friends getting dinged for using a mobile device while driving. Most of them are young and dependent on a cellphone for work and their social life.

No surprise, then, that a recent survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that young people are most likely to get into a crash involving cellphone use, most likely to send text messages or emails while driving, and least likely to speak up when riding with a driver using a cellphone.

The survey, said to be the first of its kind, polled about 6,000 adult drivers from all 50 states. It found that drivers younger than 25 are two to three times more likely to drive while sending or reading a text message or email.

About 44 percent of respondents 18 to 20 years old admitted to sending texts or emails while driving, while 49 percent of drivers 21 to 24 years old admit to the same behavior. The percentages drop off by around half or more from 25 years and up.

The most sobering statistic is that of the 6,000 drivers surveyed, 718 (about 6 percent) said they had used a cellphone at the time of a crash or a near crash.

The Honolulu Police Department has been aggressive in citing drivers. In 2011, police officers cited 11,635 drivers for using an electronic device while driving. In the first two months of this year, 2,462 citations were made, an HPD spokes woman said.

Curious about the attitudes of young drivers locally, I asked two of the youngest people I know — both 23-year-old women who have been cited for using a mobile device while driving — to describe their driving habits.

One said she answers the phone only if it’s her elderly mother calling, and said that was the situation when she was cited. "I always worry something could have happened to her. Family is more important than a ticket for talking on my phone."

She said she wouldn’t call out other drivers on the behavior because "some people are just bad drivers. If operating electronic devices is illegal, then eating in your car, putting on makeup, reaching for anything in the back seat or changing the radio should be illegal as well."

Another acquaintance said she plans to contest her citation. She insists she was simply moving her phone and rarely uses it while driving, despite its central role in her work and social life.

She said she calls people out on phone usage in the car — not so much for safety, but for convenience.

"I would call my brother out on it, because I don’t want to be pulled over and late for something," she said. "It’s a hassle, it’s expensive, it’s annoying."

The full survey can be found at nhtsa.gov.

Reach Gene Park at gpark@staradvertiser.com or Twitter as @GenePark.