Mobile apps create new distractions for young drivers
May 09, 2012 by Charlie Fraser
The huge growth in popularity of the mobile has caused well documented increases in texting and calls at the wheel. The latest smartphones however which provide access to hundreds of thousands of apps are increasing the amount of distraction at the wheel, reports BetaNews this week.
58% of 17-25s polled by young driver insurer ingenie agreed that sophisticated smartphones and their apps are increasing distraction among young motorists. Among the worst offending apps are Facebook and Twitter, with up to a third of those with these apps admitting to using them whilst driving the car.
Startlingly, some unexpected apps also proved too tempting to avoid at the wheel recent mobile game sensations Draw Something and Angry Birds, had 18% and 17% respectively of app users surveyed playing whilst driving.
The survey of 1,000 young drivers was carried out by ingenie ahead of their campaign to reduce driver distraction supported by Gary Lineker, Omid Djalili and Bruno Senna. ingenie will donate 1 to RoadSafe for every person who tweets a pledge to not drive distracted.
Interestingly, while ingenie sends driving feedback to their policyholders using a mobile app, theyve made sure not to send any messages when their telematics device confirms that your ignition is on.
So tell us how much of a distraction do you find your mobile phone in the car?
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