New research shows teenagers over the past couple years have increasingly been using their phones to text rather than talk while driving, and AAA officials are worried it could make for a deadlier-than-usual summer on the roads.

In a follow-up to a study released last year, members of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety on Wednesday released an analysis of dashcam videos from more than 500 teen-driver crashes that occurred between August 2013 and April 2015.

Their original study looked at videos of almost 1,700 crashes from August 2007 through July 2013.

While phase two of the study revealed distracted driving to be a factor in about 60 percent of teen crashes — in line with findings from phase one — researchers this time around found that teen drivers involved in rear-end crashes were taking their eyes off the road for a longer average period of time and were almost twice as likely to have no reaction prior to crashing.

Of the 500 crashes surveyed, cellphone use was a contributing factor in about 12 percent of them, with 3 percent involving talking on or listening to the phones.

Only talking or attending to passengers, which was involved in 15 percent of the wrecks, surpassed it as a possible cause.

That's all despite a state statute that says, unless calling 911, no one 18 or younger is allowed to use a cellphone while driving at all — even if a hands-free accessory is attached.

"Despite every effort being made to educate teens about the dangers of distracted driving, AAA research indicates that the message is just not getting through," AAA spokesperson Amy Parmenter said in a news release. "And, all too often, the consequences are deadly."

According to AAA, the number of crashes involving teen drivers increases significantly during the summer months.

Beginning on Memorial Day and lasting through the next 100 days, the average number of deaths from crashes involving 16- to 19-year-old drivers nationwide is 16 percent higher than on other days.

Just more than 1,000 people die in crashes involving teen drivers during that time period each year.

Almost 50 people have died during those 100 days in the last five years in Connecticut, according to the UConn Connecticut Crash Data Repository.

In his experience, Waterford police Traffic Officer Todd O'Connell said, there's "no question about it" that drivers are spending more time looking down at their phones than holding them up to their ears — something he said is particularly problematic for younger drivers.

"They're new drivers," he said. "To create another distraction for an inexperienced driver makes it even more dangerous."

According to Edmund Hedge Jr., law enforcement liaison for the state Highway Safety Office, data about distracted driving and cellphone-related infractions and summonses recently handed out to teenagers in Connecticut wasn't immediately available.

O'Connell emphasized that police are seeing such behaviors at all ages.

He said Waterford police sometimes use unmarked vehicles for distracted driving enforcement and, in doing so, observe people driving more naturally than they would otherwise.

"If you're driving down the road in a police car, people will sometimes put their phones down or hide them," O'Connell explained. "But when you're in an unmarked vehicle, very frequently they're looking down and not paying attention to the road. It's a serious problem."

But distracted driving as punishable under state statute includes a host of distractors that don't involve people texting, using social media or otherwise manipulating their handheld phones.

Police also see and stop drivers who are putting on makeup, using electronic book readers or paying more attention to the dogs in their laps than the road, O'Connell explained.

According to phase two of AAA's study, singing or dancing, reaching for objects, operating in-vehicle controls, grooming and eating were "potentially distracting behaviors" in more than a quarter of teen driver crashes in 2014.

Ledyard police Lt. Ken Creutz said using cellphones or otherwise engaging in distracted driving — which he sees "all the time" — only compounds other risky habits, such as speeding and following too closely.

"It's one thing if you're speeding and an obstacle, say it's a kid on a bike, comes into the roadway," Creutz said. "But if you're speeding and also glancing at your phone, there's now even less of a reaction time. That's what I think is the most concerning."

O'Connell said he wishes his department had more resources to put toward the issue.

He reiterated that people should be smart about using their phones.

"The state's message is 'it can wait,'" O'Connell said. "I suggest people, if they receive something they have to answer right away, stop their vehicles in a safe location and then respond. That's the safest thing to do."

l.boyle@theday.com