Fatal distractions of driving twits

Apr 8 2009 Steve Hughes

Fatal distractions of driving twits

SPRING has sprung and tweeting sounds can be heard across the nation - as drivers risk their lives behind the wheel.

The tweeting sounds are not from birds but rather from an alarming number of drivers updating their social networking site Twitter while on the move.

Such is the sophistication of modern mobile phones that motorists can now perform the same functions behind the wheel as they can on a home computer.

Research by online insurer esure shows that young motorists are being driven to distraction by the need to constantly check and update their entries on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

In the case of Twitter, users simply say what they happen to be doing at any moment, no matter how uninteresting or mundane. The site is said to have become addictive to millions of young users around the world, with a constant need to check it and update their own activities for others to read.

Psychologists say it is the need for youngsters to feel famous by broadcasting themselves to the world in way that they could not achieve if it required a talent.

Whilst it is illegal and dangerous to use a mobile phone whilst driving, the research indicates that the lure of the social networking sites is proving irresistible to an alarming number of young drivers.

The survey reveals that almost ten per cent of motorists questioned are using mobile Internet services and social networks whilst driving to tweet, text and update their Facebook profiles.

One Tweeter wrote: 'I'm steering with my knees and peeling an orange.'

Whilst the research shows that 92 per cent of UK motorists know it is illegal to use their hand-held phone while driving, 45 per cent admit to doing it.

Esure spokesman Mike Pickard, said: 'Messages being posted on Twitter from behind the wheel are a real cause for concern for the safety of other motorists and pedestrians.

'Our advice to motorists is to remove this temptation altogether by switching off all mobile technology before driving to ensure focus solely remains on the road ahead.'

The esure study revealed a number of regional differences.

Motorists in the North East find mobile technology the most distracting, with 56 per cent saying that incoming beeps, vibrations, flashing lights, calls or alerts are very distracting while driving.

Drivers in the East of England admit to breaking the law by answering calls while driving, with almost a third admitting that they have done

this. However, just 22 per cent of Scottish motorists admit to answering phone calls while they are driving.

According to esure female motorists find mobile technology more distracting than male motorists when driving, with half of women saying that they find incoming beeps, alerts and vibrations very distracting compared to 46 per cent of male drivers.

More male motorists admit to having broken the law by answering calls while driving, with 29 per cent confessing to doing so, whereas just a quarter of female drivers admit to having done so.

Here is a selection of driving 'Tweets' from the past week: