Taking a stand against mobile phone drivers

The threat of a fine of £200 and 6 penalty points does little to dissuade many drivers from using their phones behind the wheel. Motorists know the risk of getting caught is extremely low and ignore the fact they're putting lives at risk. As a result, the behaviour has become endemic.

Our compulsive behaviour around mobile phones was highlighted by an American study of 1,000 drivers, 98 per cent of whom agreed it was dangerous to text and drive. However, 74 per cent claimed they'd done it themselves with 30 per cent claiming it was ‘simply a habit’ they believed did not have an impact on their own driving performance.

Dr Greenfield, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at The University of Connecticut, who worked on the report, said at the time of publication; “We compulsively check our phones because every time we get an update through text, email or social media, we experience an elevation of dopamine, which is a neurochemical in the brain that makes us feel happy. If that desire for a dopamine fix leads us to check our phones while we’re driving, a simple text can turn deadly.”

Research by Nottingham Trent University found that the average user checks their phone 85 times a day and that 'rapid mobile phone interactions', less than 30 seconds, are becoming habitual for smartphone users, with many not realising the frequency with which they check their phone. Young drivers in particular are more likely to be distracted. Just under half of drivers (49%) aged 25–34 admitted they sometimes go online or use apps while driving. Almost a third of drivers in the same age group said they do this several times a week at least.

Can technology help address the fact that mobile phone use while driving has become second nature for a significant proportion of UK drivers? Nissan has developed a glove compartment that doubles up as a Faraday cage that shields phones from incoming signals while roadside cameras are being developed to catch drivers using phones in the act. However, if phone use while driving is to become as socially unacceptable as drink driving perhaps we all need to take responsibility as individuals - not only by putting our own phones away while driving, but by confronting those that so casually put lives at risk.

https://x.com/Jo_Earlsfield/status/1467923901850300419?s=20

When we asked Jo about her courageous intervention, she said: "He made me run down Chestnut Grove in heels to do this! I kept thinking that could have been my daughter and I’d like someone to do the same if they saw a driver anywhere near her on their phone."

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