A new survey by AA Ireland has revealed that most drivers “never” use their phone handheld while driving, but half think that phone use by others is getting worse.
Out of 2,617 motorists surveyed, around half of motorists (48.2%) said the overall problem of phone use while driving has gotten worse in the last two years.
Fewer than 1 in 5 think it has improved, while 4 in every 5 motorists said they see other drivers using their phones for handheld calls or texts "often" or "occasionally".
Only 5% said they have not seen another driver on the phone in the last year.
2 in 5 admitted to using their phone while in the car, but most of these say they do this "rarely".
Only 1.6% of respondents admit to doing this "often", while 59.7% say they "never" do so.
Warning
Holding a phone can result in a fixed charge penalty notice of €60 and three-penalty-points on your licence.
It's also against the law to open, send or read a message on a phone while driving, even if it's on a dashboard mount.
An Garda Siochána issued 24,474 fixed charged penalty notices for mobile phone use last year.
Distracted driving can also lead to charges of driving without due care and attention, careless driving and dangerous driving.
The majority of those surveyed (61.5%) said they want to see stronger penalties for phone use while driving.
The AA reminds motorists that even a glance at a phone can pose significant risk when you’re driving.
AA Ireland Head of Communications, Paddy Comyn said: “While looking at a notification might feel quick, when driving at 120km/h on the motorway, a vehicle travels around the length of a soccer pitch every 3.5 seconds.
"In the 5 seconds it takes to manually dial a number, you could drive the length of a soccer pitch and a half without looking. Doing the same thing at 50km/h, a motorist would drive the length of 5 double-decker buses with their eyes off the road.”
Also in this survey, over 1 in 4 drivers say they have opened or changed a music app on their phone while in the car in the past year. But, on the other hand, 70 percent say they "never" do this.
And over 95% of drivers surveyed said they "never" take photos while driving.
