Trakm8 : More than one in ten drivers admit to using a phone at the wheel, survey finds.

Over one in ten (12%) drivers admit to using a phone at the wheel, a new survey from Roadsense, has revealed.

Roadsense, which was recently acquired by Trakm8, surveyed 3,376 people* across the UK in order to explore the public's attitudes towards using a phone at the wheel.

6% of drivers said that they think it is acceptable to use a phone at the wheel, while 12% of respondents said despite whether they think it's acceptable, they do it anyway. Amongst those who do not use a phone at the wheel, almost one-third (32%) said that they have done so in the past.

The government has recently announced that the penalty for being caught using a handheld mobile phone behind the wheel will be increased from three points to six, meaning that just two offences could result in a driving ban. The penalty fine will also be doubled from £100 to £200 and can be as high as £2500 for HGV drivers. Interestingly, almost one in five respondents (19%) admitted that they do not know what the current criminal sanctions are for using a mobile phone at the wheel.

Those who admitted to using their phone at the wheel were asked what activity they most use their phone for whilst driving. Nearly half (46%) of respondents said that phone calls and texting were the activities they use their mobile phone for the most. Over a quarter (27%) primarily used their devices as sat navs, 21% for listening to music and 6% for social media.

Mobile phone users were also asked which of the following would be most likely to make them stop using their phone whilst driving. One-third (33%) said that being involved in an accident caused by using their phone would be enough to make them stop.

28% confirmed that having passengers in the vehicle is enough to make them stop using their phone at the wheel. Just under a quarter of participants (23%) suggested that higher levels of enforcement would make them stop while 16% agreed that the introduction of heavier punishments would do the job.

Amongst law abiding drivers, the danger mobile phone use poses to other road users and pedestrians came out as the top reason for what deters them the most with a reassuring 82% of respondents agreeing that this was the case.

Over one-tenth (11%) of drivers don't use their phone at the wheel due to the dangers it poses to themselves, 5% justified their choice through the fear of criminal sanctions and 2% admitted that they do not want to run the risk of damaging their vehicles.

Roadsense, which conducted the survey, is the UK distributors of CellControl's DriveID product, which is designed to stop mobile phone use amongst drivers of commercial vehicles and young drivers.

DriveID allows fleet managers or parents to block certain apps such as music, social media, and texting while a vehicle is in use. Phone calls to emergency services, however, can be made at any time.

In last month's Fleet Safety Survey** results, conducted by Brake, only 4% of fleets surveyed make use of apps to prevent mobile use behind the wheel.

Mobile phone use behind the wheel is a major cause of distractions. Last month saw HGV driver, Tomasz Kroker, jailed for 10 years after he changed the music on his phone whilst travelling on the A34. His decision led him to plough into stationary traffic, killing four family members and injuring another.

John Watkins, Executive Chairman of Trakm8, said:'These statistics show that there is still an extremely long way to go in putting a stop to using phones at the wheel. The government's plans to increase the punishments for the offence are welcomed however these changes will not work without education and preventative technologies becoming more commonplace in our society.'

'Phone blocking technologies are an excellent way for businesses to ensure that their drivers and other road users are protected on their behalf.

Devices like DriveID are also great for parents of new drivers to ensure that their children's eyes remain focused on the road ahead.'

'Parents and fleet managers are in control of what functions can be used on the phone whilst the ignition is turned on. For example, you may want to lock down the phone entirely but allow the use of a sat nav system. Calls to emergency services are always available.'

Kevin Clinton, Head of Road Safety at of The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said:
'This survey shows that we still have a long way to go to convince many people that using a mobile phone while driving is dangerous. It is also unnecessary. Drivers can switch off their phone and let it take messages, and return messages, make calls or send texts when they have stopped in a safe place.'

'A substantial body of research shows that using a hand-held or hands-free mobile phone while driving is a significant distraction, and substantially increases the risk of the driver crashing. '

'Drivers who use a mobile phone, whether hand-held or hands-free:

• are much less aware of what's happening on the road around them
• fail to see road signs
• fail to maintain proper lane position and steady speed
• are more likely to 'tailgate' the vehicle in front
• react more slowly, take longer to brake and longer to stop
• are more likely to enter unsafe gaps in traffic
• feel more stressed and frustrated'

'They are also more likely to crash, injuring or killing themselves and other people.'

Notes to Editors

*The study was conducted amongst 3,376 visitors to 5 websites owned by the Trakm8 Group.
** Information from Fleet Safety Survey 2015, Part 1: Technology. The survey was conducted amongst 138 fleet managers, 131 of whom were UK-based. Respondents manage nearly 26,000 vehicles and 40,000 employees driving for work. Report can be found at: https://www.licencebureau.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/16-10-12-fleet-survey-report-technology.pdf
Key findings:

- 6% of drivers believe that it is acceptable to use a mobile phone at the wheel and despite this, 12% of drivers admit to using a phone at the wheel.
- 32% of people who do not use a mobile phone at the wheel have done so in the past.
- Nearly 1 in 5 people do not know the punishments for being caught with a phone at the wheel.
- Despite plans by the government to increase the penalties for doing so, only 16% admitted that heavier punishments would be the most likely reason for to change their habit.

About Roadsense
Roadsense is one of the UK market leaders in the SME fleet telematics sector. It was founded in 2012 by two of the industry's most experienced individuals, Rob Goldwater and Andrew Tillman who, between them, have over 30 years' experience in this sector.

Roadsense's aim was to provide flexible fleet safety and telematics solutions to companies whose requirements couldn't be served by the mass-market providers and achieved early success, winning the contract to supply the home delivery fleet of Iceland Foods.

The company provides a range of fleet safety products and was the first to provide a single-unit camera and telematics solution to its product portfolio in 2015.

Now part of the Trakm8 group, Roadsense continues to build on its success as part of a larger financially stable organisation.

About Trakm8 Group
Trakm8 is a UK based Big Data company utilising telematics as its primary enabler. Through IP owned technology, over two billion miles worth of data is collected annually through its fleet management solutions to create and fine tune algorithms used to score driver behaviour, monitor vehicle health and continuously improve the security and operational efficiencies of customers' vehicles.

With its headquarters in Dorset and a manufacturing facility in the West Midlands, the Group supplies a number of well-known customers in the fleet management and insurance sectors across the UK and further afield including customers such as the AA, Saint-Gobain, EON, Direct Line Group and Young Marmalade.

The Group's portfolio offers complete telematics solutions, which since the acquisition of the business and assets of DCS Systems, includes dashboard cameras that enable customers to record driving incidents and mitigate the risk from 'crash to cash' accidents. This is complemented through a comprehensive hardware range, which includes a self-install unit that is one of the smallest available on the global market.

Recently, the Group acquired Route Monkey, significantly enhancing the Group's logistics solution which offers both route scheduling and optimisation, including routing for electric vehicles.

Trakm8 has been listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange since 2005. www.trakm8.com / @Trakm8

For further information please contact:

Josh Handscomb 01675 434268

Trakm8 Ltd,
Lydden House,
Wincombe Business Park,
Shaftesbury,
Dorset
SP7 9QJ