Study Reveals that More People Text while Driving Rather than Make Calls

2 March 2015 Back

Study Reveals that More People Text while Driving Rather than Make Calls

The UK’s Department for Transport has issued a study on February 25th, 2015, revealing that the number of drivers who use their mobile phones for texting and accessing social media in England and Scotland is larger than the number of those who use their phones to make calls.

According to the study, 1.6 per cent of all drivers in England and Scotland (470,000 individuals) were observed using a hand-held mobile phone while driving.

The majority of these individuals (1.1 per cent) were spotted holding a phone in their hand, while 0.5 per cent were actually holding a phone to their ear.

A higher percentage of drivers were spotted using their mobile phones when stationary (2.3 per cent).

In 2009, the same survey revealed that 1.4% of drivers were using a mobile phone. This suggests an increase by 0.2 per cent (roughly 59,000 individuals) of people who use their mobile phones while driving.

The study also revealed that 98.2 per cent of drivers in England and Scotland wear their seat belts while driving, compared to 96.7 per cent for front seat passengers and 90.6 per cent for rear seat passengers.

Commenting on the survey, Road Safety GB, a national road safety organization operating across the United Kingdom, said that “tackling mobile phone usage must be a government priority for 2015. People must have the fear of being caught increased as we believe this is the only viable deterrent”.