Parents may play a direct role in distracted teen driving, according to a recent study.

Researchers found that more than half of teens talking on cellphones with their mother or father while driving.

Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of crashes among all drivers. For teens, it causes 11 percent of fatal crashes, and of those, 21 percent involved cellphones, according to a 2013 report by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

"Teens said parents expect to be able to reach them, that parents get mad if they don't answer their phone and they have to tell parents where they are," researcher Noelle LaVoie said.

The teens also said that their parents use cellphones while driving and that "everyone is doing it," according to the research, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

For the study, researchers interviewed or surveyed more than 400 teen drivers from 31 states. They asked them about typical driving hazards, including talking on a cellphone and texting while driving. Every teen who said he or she talked on the phone while driving talked to parents, while 20 percent said they talked to friends.

When it comes to texting, the teens were more likely to send messages to friends than parents, the survey found. However, 16 percent of the 18-year-old survey participants said they had texted a parent while driving, while 8 percent of 15- to 17-year-olds said the same.

"It's critical to raise awareness among parents and provide teens with tools for communicating with their parents," said study co-author Yi-Ching Leeof Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

LaVoie noted that several cellphone applications are available that can alert someone that the person they're trying to contact is driving.

"Parents need to understand that this is not safe and emphasize to their children that it's not normal or acceptable behavior," LaVoie said. "Ask the question, 'Are you driving?' If they are, tell them to call you back or to find a spot to pull over so they can talk."