How safe are you on a hands-free call?

19 November 2024

Using a handheld mobile phone while driving in the UK is illegal – even if you’re at red traffic lights or at a standstill. Most people know this – and are aware of the fines and penalty points should they choose to break the law.

A glance away from the road for just 2 seconds can increase the risk of a collision by 24 times. If you’re scrolling on a screen, you’ll be looking away for a lot longer than 2 seconds, and so the risk increases.

A hands-free call is as dangerous as a handheld call because your mind is not on the road.

In a project funded by a Road Safety Trust grant awarded to  The Kier Foundation, the project team focused on creating a resource to discourage the use of mobile phones while driving – specifically looking at professional drivers, and those who drive for work. The resource was developed and produced as a collaboration between the Kier Group, Kier Foundation and Nottingham Trent University.

The project aimed to uncover attitudes towards hands free phone use, and looked at driver behaviour – and the reasoning for breaching zero tolerance hands free driving policies by some commercial drivers.

The findings were used to produce a “myth-busting” video to challenge these attitudes. The video is now available to help reduce distraction-based collisions involving fleet drivers across the UK.