The Institute of Advanced Motorists has commented on the latest figures on mobile phone use, from the Department of Transport, which shows that drivers are still risking their lives.

Neil Greig, IAM Director of Policy and Research, said,”It is clear that, despite wide publicity on the risks, people are still choosing to ignore advice and use their phones in their cars. Along with consistent and high profile policing, drivers need to be educated about how and why driving on the phone is so dangerous”.

Mr Greig went onto say,”Deaths and injuries linked to mobile phone use wreck lives and are completely unavoidable. The majority of road users deserve to be protected from an irresponsible and selfish minority and enforcement is, in our view, the key weapon against them”. 

The headline DFT statistics are as follows; 

• Since the survey was last conducted in September 2008, the proportion of car drivers using hand-held mobile phones increased from 1.1% to 1.4% and from 2.2% to 2.6% for van and lorry drivers.
• For hands-free mobile phones the figures were 0.5% to 1.4% for car drivers and 1.1% to 2.4% for van and lorry drivers. 

An opinion poll conducted for the ABI (Association of British Insurers) by YouGov has highlighted that motorists who use their mobile phone while driving are the biggest menace on UK roads. The findings also showed that the public supports insurers taking a tougher stance on exposing dishonest motorists who conceal information to get cheaper insurance.

The survey of 2,000 motorists found out the following

- Nearly three quarters (72%) of people think that motorists who use their mobile phones while driving are most likely to cause an accident, followed by young male drivers (45%) and then uninsured drivers (34%).

- Motorists also back insurers taking tougher action to expose cheats who lie about or conceal information when taking out insurance. 72% said they would like insurers to be able to check driving licences for convictions or endorsements.