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Biggest Driving Distractions Revealed

Music and technology are generally the biggest distractions for motorists according to research by MoneySupermarket.com.

The price comparison website found that an increasing number of motorists are admitting to taking advantage of technological devices such as iPods and mobile phones when driving. This could have serious ramifications on the car insurance prices that these motorists are offered if they are caught and convicted of driving without due care and attention.

Punishments

16,485 drivers are convicted of driving without due care and attention in the UK alone every single year. Punishments issued obviously depend on the severity of the offence, but usually motorists convicted of driving without due care and attention are issued with a £60 ($98) fine and accrue three points on their driving record.

However, these three driving points are usually the most punishing financially. This is due to the fact that car insurance companies recognise that a motorist who has previously been convicted of a driving offence are statistically more likely to be involved in an accident and make an insurance claim. It is this sort of additional expense which motorists simply can no longer afford, with the AA reporting that the average driver is now paying 40% for car insurance than they did just 12 months ago.

MoneySupermarket.com car insurance expert Peter Harrison commented: “Although it may be unintentional, careless drivers are a menace on the roads and are a danger to both themselves and others. The penalties for this kind of behaviour are huge and can really impact on the cost of your insurance premiums. Not only are these bad driving habits, but also expensive habits if you are caught – it really isn’t worth taking the risk.”

Financial implications

Insurers will issue different levels of financial penalty depending on the severity of the offence. The following table chronicles the penalties that would be issued to the average motorists by a well known car insurance company:

As can be seen, even one minor conviction will result in an additional £80 ($131) being added to car insurance premiums, a 9% increase on the base rate which would usually be offered to the average motorists.

However it is clear that motorists with nine points added to their licence will be heavily compromised in this current era of high basic car insurance costs with increases of at least 64%. This would be particularly detrimental to young motorists under the age of 21, who are regularly offered premiums of over £2,000 ($3,254).

It is therefore unsurprising that research which was recently carried out by MoneySupermarket.com found that 5% of motorists have been forced off the road by fuel and insurance prices rises over the past couple of years.

Ten biggest driving distractions

We therefore take a look at what was named by motorists as being the biggest distractions behind the wheel. Drivers found to be distracted by these things may well be issued with convictions for ‘driving without due care and attention’, which would of course result in the before mention car insurance financial penalties:

1. Music- 61% of the drivers surveyed admitted that they have been distracted by music while behind the wheel, with radios, CD players and even iPods all being mentioned.
2. Food and drink- 51% of drivers admitted that they eat and drink while driving. More worryingly many of these drivers did not think that this constituted a driving offence.
3. Phone calls- 23% of drivers admitted that they had made or received phone calls while driving. This is despite heavy advertising campaigns warning about the dangers of using phones while driving.
4. Spectator to other accidents- 21% of drivers admitted that they had taken their eyes off the road ahead in order to survey an accident involving other motorists at least once. The real figure is likely to be far higher than this, despite the fact that it increases the chances of another accident occurring.
5. Sent a text message- It is dangerous to talk on the phone while driving, never mind sending a text while driving. Nevertheless, 16% of drivers still admitted to this offence.
6. Not using a seat belt- 15% of drivers still admit to not using a seat belt when in a car. This is a surprising statistic given the significant safety improvements brought about by their usage which does not require the driver to make a significant change to their behaviour.
7. Sleeping- Incredibly, 5% of drivers admitted that they had fallen asleep while behind the wheel. This is a surprisingly large percentage of the driving population given the dangers involved.
8. Make-up- 5% of motorists also admitted to applying make up while driving. This is slightly less surprising than how many admitted to falling sleep while driving.
9. Updating Facebook- Making/receiving phone calls and text messages is dangerous, but it is nothing compared to updating Facebook profiles. Amazingly, 2% of the survey respondents admitted to this offence.
10. Tweeting- 1% of motorists who responded to the survey also admitted to tweeting while driving. This has become possible thanks to the increased social networking capabilities of smart phones.

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