46,000 motorists daily use mobiles while driving

MOTORISTS continue to flout the law using mobile phones while driving — with women more inclined to use handsets than men.

Research concludes that 2.3% of drivers still use a handset while driving. On a national basis, this could equate to 46,000 drivers using mobiles every day.

The report for the Health Service Executive was conducted by its Department of Public Health in Meath last October.

The study involved five trained observers positioned at five different junctions in a rural town.

It was carried out in daylight, in dry weather and noted the behaviour of 1,000 motorists, 761 of whom were in cars.

While only 23 drivers were seen using mobile phones, the report calls for stricter enforcement of the law to reduce the risk of road crashes.

Female drivers were more likely to use mobiles when compared with male drivers. It found 2.5% of female drivers breaking the law compared with 2.2% of male motorists.

Driving behaviour overall had improved compared with 2005, when 3.6% of drivers were seen using phones while driving.

Since then, new legislation was brought in making it illegal.

But the research found the current rate of 2.3% was higher than in other countries.

Comparative studies in New York found just 1.7% of those observed broke the law while in Melbourne, it was 1.8%.

“Our study confirms that drivers in Ireland still continue to use handheld mobile phones whilst driving despite current legislation,” said the report published in the latest edition of the Irish Medical Journal.

The study adds: “Strict enforcement of the law in relation to mobile phone use whilst driving is necessary to change driver behaviour and to significantly reduce the risk of potentially serious and fatal road crashes.”