Persuading drivers of the dangers of hands-free phones

22 August 2024

The use of hand-held phones while driving is known to be detrimental to driving safety due to distraction, and their use was made illegal in the UK in 2003. Hand-held phone use is still a problem, but many drivers accept that it is dangerous and tend to use hands-free communication instead.

This project report  details the findings of the use of mobile phones whilst driving within the scope of professional drivers, building on the work of the Mobile: Engaged compendium. The project aimed to uncover attitudes towards hands free phone use and examines the reasoning for breaching zero tolerance hands free policies amongst commercial drivers.

The findings were used to produce a “myth-busting” video grounded in behavioural change theory to challenge these attitudes. The video is widely available to help reduce distraction-based collisions in fleet drivers across the UK.