Young drivers ignoring warning calls

Young drivers are twice as likely to use their phones while driving, according to data from the Department for Transport (DfT).

It found that four per cent of motorists aged 17-29 were seen using their phones while driving, compared to 2.1% of all drivers.

Of that figure, 1.4% were caught holding their device to their ear, while 2.6% had their phones in their hands, both of which are against the law. 

The DfT data is based on observations made of drivers who had stopped at traffic light junctions over a period between October and November last year.

Analysis of both moving and stationary traffic found 1.1% of all drivers were using their phone at the wheel, down from the previous rate of 1.6% recorded back in 2016.

RAC spokesman Pete Williams said, ‘Anecdotally, we still see too many drivers either talking on their handheld phones or interacting with them. And perhaps more worryingly, our own research with drivers suggests the problem has far from gone away. This isn’t helped by the decline in the number of roads police officers as some drivers aren’t as afraid of being caught breaking motoring laws as they once were.’

In 2017 alone, 43 people were killed on the UK’s roads in collisions involving motorists using their mobile phone, with a further 135 people seriously injured.