Overview
- IAM RoadSmart’s poll reports that 43% of drivers aged 17–24 admitted reading or writing messages while driving in the past year.
- Risky behaviors extended beyond texting, with 34% saying they filmed or took photos at the wheel and 16% messaging during at least half of their journeys.
- The survey, commissioned by IAM RoadSmart and conducted by Online95, questioned roughly 2,025 UK motorists in September 2025.
- The charity is urging tougher penalties and stronger enforcement, suggesting fines pegged to the cost of a new smartphone and highlighting new police camera technology.
- DfT notes mobile use at the wheel has been a criminal offence since 2022 after a loophole was closed, and its 2024 data records 154 people killed or seriously injured where phone use was a contributory factor.