Major driving offence reaches eight-year high as motorists face £200 fine for causing road danger

Motorists caught breaking a major driving offence have reached the highest level in eight years, with Labour urged to urgently address the danger.

New data from the RAC has found that mobile phone use behind the wheel has surged to its highest level in eight years.

The study revealed that 15 per cent of drivers now admit to texting, browsing the internet or posting on social media while behind the wheel, matching a rate last recorded in 2018.

This figure has climbed steadily each year since the pandemic, when it dropped to just seven per cent in 2021, research showed.

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

One in five motorists also confessed to checking messages or notifications while driving, the highest proportion recorded since 2016.

The statistics for younger motorists paint a particularly troubling picture, as more than a quarter of drivers aged under 25, some 27 per cent, admitted to watching videos, recording footage or livestreaming while at the wheel over the past year, up from 23 per cent in 2024.

Among this age group, 22 per cent confessed to playing games on their phones while driving, a record high in the RAC's research.

Drivers can be fined six penalty points and issued a £200 fine if caught using a mobile phone, sat nav, tablet, or any device that can send and receive data while driving or riding a motorcycle.

Four in 10 young drivers said they had made or received video calls behind the wheel, the highest figure ever recorded by the motoring organisation.

Nearly half of under-25s acknowledged making or receiving voice calls without hands-free equipment, compared with 20 per cent of drivers overall.

Some 39 per cent of young motorists had typed messages or social media posts while driving, rising from 27 per cent the previous year.

The proportion of drivers who have photographed or filmed while driving has also risen sharply, reaching 12 per cent this year compared with eight per cent in 2024, marking the highest rate since 2019.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• DVLA to launch changes to medical driving licence service impacting 900,000 drivers
• Rachel Reeves' pay-per-mile car tax could create 'postcode penalty' for rural drivers - 'Real danger'
• Labour accused of making 'little progress' in improving road conditions despite new safety push

The only category showing improvement was voice calls, with 20 per cent admitting to this activity compared with 27 per cent in 2024.

RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: "In reality, all that's happened is that this activity has been replaced by ones that are equally, if not more dangerous."

Road casualty statistics for 2024 reveal the deadly consequences of distracted driving, with mobile device use contributing to 340 collisions, 20 of which proved fatal.

Convictions for handheld phone offences have also reached their highest point in nearly a decade, with 40,723 drivers in England and Wales found guilty in 2024, up from 36,813 the previous year and exceeding the 36,660 recorded in 2017.

Despite tougher penalties introduced in 2017, which doubled fines to £200 and increased penalty points to six, the deterrent effect appears to be waning.

Public concern about illegal phone use has also fallen dramatically, dropping to 19 per cent in the latest research from a peak of 41 per cent in 2016, when it ranked as motorists' top worry.

Mr Dennis added: "Our research shows there's been a marked increase in the proportion of drivers, especially the young, admitting to using handheld mobile phones behind the wheel for all sorts of risky activities, including posting on social media and even livestreaming."

He added that despite pole-mounted cameras now being deployed to detect offending drivers, "our figures suggest there isn't much concern about being caught".

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter