Lancashire drivers warned they are dicing with death

Lancashire drivers have been urged to switch off their mobiles or face the awful consequences.

The warning comes as a survey by the AA Charitable Trust shows that more than one fifth of drivers still can’t bear to turn off their phones whilst driving.

Amongst younger drivers almost half are so addicted to their phones that they won’t switch off.

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The over 65s are more likely to switch off with just 13 per cent resisting.

These results are part of an AA-Populus survey of 19,308 drivers which shows that, despite extensive publicity following increased penalties introduced on March 1st, more needs to be done to change attitudes and reduce the number of deaths caused by distracted drivers.

Edmund King, Director of the AA Charitable Trust, said: “It took time to change mainstream attitudes to drink driving so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that we still have some way to go to convince drivers to hang up their phones in the car.

“But it’s disappointing to see that, despite high profile coverage of the tragic consequences the offence can have, a fifth still see other drivers using handheld mobile phones on every journey and a further two fifths notice it on most journeys. We will continue to campaign on this issue working with the Government’s Think! campaign and others to show that using the phone at the wheel can be deadly.”

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Almost a quarter say mobile phone use is the biggest road safety issue facing road users in the UK.

Two thirds of drivers think the use of handheld mobile phones at the wheel is actually getting worse.

The AA Trust has been working hard to educate drivers about the dangers. The Trust’s radical “designated driver” ad that compares drink driving and text driving has just won a gold medal at the international renowned creative Clio Awards.