The proportion of young drivers illegally making and receiving phone calls behind the wheel without hands-free technology is at its highest rate in eight years – 21 years after it first became punishable by law – according to new data from the RAC.
Figures from the RAC’s 2024 Report on Motoring show half (55%) of drivers under 25 years admitted to making and receiving voice calls behind the wheel, compared to 27% of the overall driving population and just 16% of those aged 65 years or older.
This is up 6% on 2023 and 3% since 2016 when the data was first recorded.
Four-in-10 (43%) younger motorists also said they have listened to a voice note while driving without using hands-free while 40% have recorded such a message. The corresponding rates for the overall driving population are just 14% and 9% respectively.
The findings come 21 years after the Government first made it an offence to use a handheld mobile phone or similar device while driving – and more than two years since it closed a loophole that previously meant drivers could escape punishment if they could demonstrate they weren’t using the phone for ‘interactive communication’.
‘A pressing need to dial down handheld phone use’
A fifth (22%) of all drivers questioned for the RAC’s 2024 Report on Motoring said other drivers using handheld mobile phones behind the wheel is one of their top motoring concerns, representing the report’s sixth biggest overall concern.
When it comes to what to do to curtail dangerous handheld phone use, more than three-quarters of all drivers (77%) say they would like to see the widespread introduction of cameras designed to detect illegal phone use at the wheel, a rate that falls only slightly to 67% among the under-25s.
Meanwhile, 91% of all drivers agree there is ‘never any excuse’ for using a handheld mobile phone – other than to call 999 in an emergency when it is not safe to stop, as is legally permitted.
Home Office figures published last week showed that the number of fines for using a handheld mobile phone while driving increased by a third (33%) last year, from 27,776 in 2022 to 36,842 in 2023.
There were 23 fatalities on the UK’s roads in 2023 where a driver using a mobile phone was deemed to be a contributing factor in the collision, up from 18 in 2019.
Rod Dennis, RAC road safety spokesman, said: “It’s extremely concerning that despite now having a ‘zero tolerance’ handheld phone law in place, an increasing number of young drivers appear to be using their phones to call, text, voice note or even video chat while operating a vehicle.
“We suspect a major reason for this is drivers not believing they are likely to be caught. But hopefully, growing use of AI cameras which allow police to detect drivers breaking the law will get the message across that offenders will be caught and punished with six penalty points and a £200 fine. For young drivers who passed their tests in the last two years, this means losing their licences.
“Anyone who uses a mobile phone at the wheel in any way is not just risking their own lives, but those of their passengers and all other road users. The only ‘screentime’ drivers should have in the car is looking through the windscreen as they focus on the road.”
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