A new survey, conducted on behalf of “Ingenie”, a telematics-based car insurance brand for young drivers, has revealed that 58% of 17-25 year old UK drivers agree that smartphone apps are causing young people to be more distracted at the wheel. The survey revealed: over 40% admitted to answering their phones while driving without a hands-free set; 44% said they had sent a text message, and 62% said they had read a message while they were driving; 1 in 6 male drivers under 25 has crashed due to mobile phone usage at the wheel; one third of under 25s who use Facebook on their phone admitted to using it whilst driving; 18% of under 25s who have Draw Something on their phone have played the game whilst driving, with 17% playing Angry Birds; and hands-free kits encourage 53% more young drivers to make calls lasting longer than 5 minutes while driving.
The results of the survey suggest that the increasing range of apps and functions available on cell phones is contributing to young driver distraction, particularly the playing of mobile games, which take a high level of concentration and are taking young people’s attention away from the roads. Describing the growing range of dangerous distractions created by smartphones, Ingenie founder and CEO, Richard King, said, “We’re in the middle of a perfect storm, where the rapid growth of social media and mobile is creating a new breed of in-car distraction. We’re increasingly using smartphones to occupy ourselves during down time, but driving is an active pursuit and it really does need our full attention. As well as not texting or making calls, we should all pledge not to tweet, update our status or be tempted by anything else our phone has to offer whilst driving.”
