Mobile usage while driving quadrupled in two years: Study

15 Sep 2016

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The number of UK drivers who use mobile phones behind the wheels has quadrupled in the last two years as drivers do not fear being caught.

According to a study by motoring charity the The Royal Automobile Club (RAC), the number of drivers who admitted to using a handheld mobile phone while driving had risen 31 per cent, as against 8 per cent in 2014.

The figures further showed that 20 per cent of drivers thought that it was acceptable to check social media on their phone when in stationary traffic, as against 14 per cent in 2014.

Fourteen per cent admitted to taking videos or photographs with their phones while driving. In January 2016, the number of motorists fined for driving while on the phone was down to 30,000 as against 123,000 in 2011.

According to RAC the combination of fewer officers on the roads and more smartphones meant their use by drivers was at "epidemic proportions".

RAC spokesman Peter Williams said, "Sadly, motorists' attitudes to using handheld mobile phones while driving appear to be relaxing rather than tightening, ibtimes.co.uk reported.

"This is due to the combination of our constantly growing addiction to ever more sophisticated smartphones, coupled with there being little or no fear of being caught in the act as a result of declining numbers of roads policing officers.''

The RAC believed a 27-per cent fall in the number of full-time dedicated roads policing officers in England and Wales (excluding London) between 2010 and 2015 had left drivers with no fear that they would be caught for offences which were not detected by automatic cameras.

Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of those who admitted to using a mobile while driving claimed it was an emergency, 21 per cent said they needed information for their journey and 12 per cent they did it out of habit.

As per figures from the Department for Transport, (DfT), a driver impaired or distracted by their phone was a contributory factor in 492 accidents in the UK in 2014, including 21 that were fatal and 84 classed as serious.

Williams said, ''There is clear evidence that the illegal use of handheld phones by drivers to talk, text, tweet, post, browse and even video call is, if anything, on the increase.

''It is alarming to see that some drivers have clearly relaxed their attitudes to the risks associated with this behaviour but more worrying is the increase in the percentage of motorists who actually admit to using a handheld device when driving.

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