Car Accidents > News
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alarming Rise In Mobile Use At The Wheel Reported
Fri, 15 Oct 2010

The number of motorists who use their mobile phones while driving has soared over the past year, according to new figures from the RAC .

A survey of 1,150 British drivers by the motoring organisation shows that as many as 39 per cent of drivers admit to being distracted by calls, texts and alerts from social media websites while behind the wheel of their vehicle.

The number of drivers breaking the law by answering phone calls without a hands-free kit while on the road has more than trebled from 8 per cent to 28 per cent, while the proportion of those admitting to sending text messages at the wheel has risen by 20 per cent to 31 per cent.

The research also worryingly shows that 11 per cent of motorists use their handsets to check emails while driving, 9 per cent access mapping applications such as Google Maps and 7 per cent log on to social networking sites.

Commenting on the alarming findings, RAC Motoring Strategist Adrian Tink said: "It’s extremely concerning that the use of mobile phones for texting and calling has risen in the past year. It is also worrying that people are admitting to using their phone for a whole host of social media applications while driving ."

"Taking your eye off the road, just for a second, to read an alert or check who a call came from can have potentially fatal results. This steep rise in mobile phone usage at the wheel could potentially be set to continue as more and more people embrace smart phone technology."

He added: "Many people do not realise it is an offence to use a mobile phone while a vehicle is stationary in a lay-by, traffic jam, traffic lights or at the side of the road, with the engine running."

"RAC is calling for existing laws around mobile phone usage to be strictly enforced and for the government to consider widening road safety campaigns to educate motorists about the dangers of using a mobile phone at the wheel."
add to favouritesnewsletterlink to this pagesend to friendpost comments

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.