The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is warning drivers about the dangers of distracted driving after research found that nearly one in ten (9%) of drivers admit to crashing their cars because they were distracted. Just under one in twenty drivers (4%) say that someone was injured in the crash.
The IAM/Vision Critical survey, which polled nearly 1500 regular UK drivers aged 18 years and over, also found that of the 500 divers who admitted to having a near miss, almost one in five (18%) then went on have a crash.
The most common distractions are:
- Children in the car (29%)
- Changing the radio channel (27%)
- Back seat drivers (26%)
- Mobile phone use (24%)
- Sat nav (15%)
- Attractive pedestrians, drivers or passengers (14%)
The most crash-prone drivers come from London and the South East, where 14% of drivers admitted to distraction crashes. The lowest crash rates are in Wales (3%), Yorkshire and Humber (4%) and South West England (5%),
Men are nearly twice as likely to crash because of a distraction than women (11% and 6%).
IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “If you think you can multitask and drive then think again. Using mobile phones and other distractions were a factor in more than one hundred deaths on our roads last year, every one of them avoidable.”
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