Why do so many drivers still hold and use a phone while driving?

[Dbank]

I notice a large percentage of drivers still illegally "holding and using" mobile phones whilst driving.

(For clarity, you are allowed to touch and use a phone when it's secured in a holder, or handsfree, it's holding and using that is illegal)

Perhaps there should be a very limited number of apps which are specifically allowed when driving and evidence that anything else was being used would be proof of at least ‘driving without due care and attention’, and incur significant penalties.
Phone.
text, read out not shown on screen, reply by voice only.
satnav.
spotify/podcasts/radio

no visuals except basic controls for allowed apps, and maps?

certainly no video!

is there a valid case for anything else?

I've never done it. About 10% of drivers are on their phone, I can see them as I walk everywhere. It should be a lifetime ban if caught on camera doing it, even life or death isn't an excuse.

When I see someone doing it on the street (ie; very slow driving) I do actually bellow and action at them to get off their "fuckingphone" if their window is open. They always put it down and give me an evil glare.

There are some AI operated cameras being trialled which will pick up drivers using phones & with no seatbelts.

Perhaps linked to an anti tank missile?

🩷🩷

I do this as well. When I walk my dog early in the morning, I walk along a road with cars crawling along in traffic. A lot of them are looking down at their phone. I bang on their windows, they usually say they weren't making a phone call as if that were OK.

I got a new car 2 years ago and it's the first one I've had with touch screen/ability to link your phone.
I think the touch screen itself is more distracting and averts your eyes from the road, slightly longer than using a knob or dial for aircon/fan/demisting the windscreen which you got used to and didn't need to look at. I havent even connected my phone although I do occassionally use Google maps

I think its one of the laws that is fairly rare to be enforced unless an accident occurs. And lots of people would think they've done it 100 times without causing an accident, so would continue. I'm not saying that's an excuse, and I don't use my phone, but thinking of people's mindset. I'm always surprised when I see people at roundabouts, parking, busy junctions, using a phone when - apart from the obvious danger - I always think this would be so much easier if you had 2 hands to actually drive!

It's just another sign of the lack of intelligence amongst the general public these days. I'm not exaggerating when I say I see dozens of drivers doing this every day. Gives me the rage that these thick as shit oxygen thieves are so happy to play fast and loose with other people's lives and I secretly hope they kill theirselves before they kill others.
Also had a family member killed by a driver using a phone and they got off scot free.

Handsfree is little better.

When i worked and drove a lot, i used the built in HF the car provided, when i was called, even a short conversation will lead to a loss of concentration, eg miss a m/way junction.

Even our company driving policy said phones should be switched off but then management would bollock you if you ever did this.

There is little to no road policing in this country unless its by camera, so the chances of getting caught are tiny.

The driving test is also ridiculously easy to pass, so we have generation after generation of poor drivers.

Then there is the logic that allows a huge touch screen to be used to control AC or Heating controls... but pick up a phone in stationary traffic gets you 6 points.... people rebel against this.

@GPTec1

The driving test is also ridiculously easy to pass, so we have generation after generation of poor drivers.

And an ever increasing number of people who havn't passed a UK driving test and shouldn't be on the roads.

My car is ancient and doesn’t have Bluetooth so unless I’m using my phone to navigate somewhere, when it’s mounted in a cradle, it goes in my bag behind my seat. I have an adapter so I can play music through the radio and set up my playlist before driving off. Even talking on hands free means that you’re not 100% concentrating on the road.

I remember my dad telling me the day I passed my driving test that I was now privileged to be in control of something that can kill if I don’t give driving my full attention.

Always know when I’m behind one as they swerve in the lane

They do it because they know they probably won't be caught and it is worth the risk. Personally I would give anyone caught a lifetime ban with no exceptions.

I am sick of the sob stories that are used in mitigation for driving offences. If you need a car for work, to take your kids to school, ferry around an elderly relative etc obey the law!

I agree. Time to get tough. Far too many accidents and near misses these days. We need the police to actually police and for there to be far more serious penalties, and yes, including complete bans.

All screens in cars should be banned

I live on a main road, and when playing with DS at the window sill I can’t tell you the sheer volume of people either driving past or waiting at the lights on their phone. It’s at least every 3rd or 4th car. It never fails to shock me how stupid and ignorant people are.

When we were in America we’d see people watching TikTok or similar while driving, it was terrifying.

I think it's mainly people who have those special driving licences - you know, the ones that let you do whatever speed you like, you don't have to use your indicators and you can go through amber & red traffic lights.

@tourdefrance very useful visual.
This should be shown in schools and stuck to the dashboard of every car.

I find the inbuilt car touchscreen can be distracting when making any changes because you really have to look and touch at the correct control point as opposed to feel for a button to press or swivel.
Thank you to the OP who mentioned iPhone drive mode. I didn't know about that and it's very useful.

I think people are simply addicted to their phones. Sometimes I see videos on instagram of people filming themselves whilst driving and talking to the camera for content. I class this under stupid driving too. It is a distraction.

Ah, the same people who hog the middle lane and park on pavements.

As a pedestrian I walk extra slowly across the road when a driver hasn’t indicated.

No one is a perfect driver, we all have moments of in attention or make mistakes.

Too many people blame other drivers, instead of looking at their own short comings.

That said, we need a return to far more traffic police and more "smart" cameras.

Its also good that vulnerable road users like horse riders and cyclists, & of course car drivers, are using cameras themselves, all police forces now have dedicated websites to upload footage, with prosecutions very common.

Yes, I see loads of this

I feel as though this is not policeable (if that's a word). There needs to be something in the phone that turns off when it's recognises any speed above running speed.

At my work it's a sackable offence to be caught using a phone when driving. That's a good deterrent.

I agree the current legislation isn't being enforced sufficiently. An average of 40 people a day were successfully prosecuted in 2024, which is so low to be meaningless when compared with the level of offending.

Currently it's legal to use a phone whilst driving, providing you're not holding it, so making it switch off above a certain speed would prevent current legitimate use cases, i.e. Sat Nav, music and hands free etc. It would also be problematic for passengers, in cars, buses and trains etc. So I don't see this a viable solution.

Perhaps more effort (money) could be spent on enforcement and education, ultimately resulting in it being less acceptable and treated akin to driving under the influence.

Crazy. And I just watched a YouTuber filming herself chatting away as she was driving - US I guess they are more lenient there as they are always talking on the phone in TV shows.

Research has shown that whether hands free or not, the drop in concentration is pretty much the same but business need to be able to contact staff in their cars, so this isn't going to change.

Drink driving might once have been seen as anti social but in my village pub, few seem to give a shit, unless its around Christmas, backed up by the stats, highest number of convictions and more importantly, deaths in 10 years.

Cut police numbers and with little enforcement, people will do what they like.