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Using hand-held mobile phones while driving has been illegal for over ten years, and now road safety charity Brake has renewed its call to ban hands-free kits as well. The call comes as a recent survey revealed that almost half (45%) of drivers admit to chatting when driving.
The survey, by Brake and Direct Line, found that hand-held use has dropped to one in eight (13%), from over a third (36%) in 2006, but hands-free use has risen to nearly four in ten (38%), from one in five (22%) in 2006.
The study also found that texting at the wheel continues to be widespread, with 30% of all drivers admitting sending or reading messages while driving, and an even higher proportion (44%) of young drivers doing so. Smartphone apps are an additional threat, with one in eight (12%) drivers using them at the wheel, up from 9% in 2006.
“The fact that using a hands-free mobile while driving could be more dangerous than drink driving will understandably come as a shock to many drivers who currently use a hands-free device to comply with the law,” commented Rob Miles of Direct Line.
“The potential for casualties from mobile phone distraction is frightening. Hopefully as drivers become more aware of the dangers inherent in the use of mobile phones whilst driving, it will become as much of a social taboo as drink driving has become in recent years," he added.
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