Teenage boys have long held the position of being riskier drivers than their female counterparts.  Insurance companies have traditionally posted higher premiums for boys.

That all is changing.  Several new studies show that girls may be taking as many risks as guys behind the wheel.

According to a report released last week by AAA, newly licensed females are twice as likely as males to use an electronic device while driving. They also more readily ate or drank, adjusted their car’s non-essential controls, and paid attention to their personal hygiene than males while driving.

“Boys have earned a reputation as being more dangerous behind the wheel,” says Stephen Wallace, a senior adviser at Students Against Destructive Decisions and director of the Center for Adolescent Research and Education at Susquehanna University. “Anecdotally, parents may be paying more attention to boys’ driving behavior than girls’ driving behavior, so girls might be losing out on some of that [safe driving] training.”