With the advent of smartphones, annoying habits like constantly checking one’s phone or taking selfies have become commonplace in our lives, but while these are not harmful when done at a dining table, they are plainly dangerous behind the steering wheel.
Nearly one in 10 motorists admit to having had an accident as a result of using their phone while driving, from more than a third of motorists who said they used their mobile devide when behind the wheel, according to a survey from Confused including 2,000 motorists.
However, fewer than 1 in 10 drivers said they were caught by police for phone use while driving, with 57 percent of those caught said they continued to use their mobiles behind the wheel.
But while in the past people used mobile phones to talk or text, smartphones offer far more diversified activities, giving motorists access to social media apps, satnav and emails.
Unsurprisingly, young drivers are the biggest culprits of social media use behind the wheel, with 9 percent of 18-24 year olds admitting to using Snapchat, 8 percent Twitter, and 5 percent Instagram. Furthermore, research shows that 7 percent of motorists have taken selfies and other photos while driving.
There are more than 10,000 Instagram photos tagged with #DrivingSelfie or #DrivingSelfies. These photos often carry other hashtags like #bored, #dangerous, #LuckyWeDidntCrash, #safedriver and #LookMaNoHands.
By Dan Mihalascu
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