Australian drivers continue to ask for trouble, knowing mobile phone use is dangerous but saying they are more confident doing it, a survey has found.
Almost half the survey respondents (45%) to the insurer Budget Direct research admitted using their phone while driving in the past two weeks.
The survey of 1000 drivers and found a growing number, 22 per cent of drivers felt confident using their phone while driving despite it being illegal in Australia.
This includes sending texting apps,with one in hree of young drivers admitting to using them in slow traffic or traffic lights, but as many as 12 per cent using the while driving .
The distraction rates for mobile use in slow or stopped traffic for all ages, was almost double open road driving, indicating it is a potential cause of common front to end crashes.
Getting worse
The rate of confidence in using mobiles while driving has almost doubled in five years with the worst contingent for false self-confidence being in the older age group with more than half of over 58 years olds thinking it was safe to use their phone.
This confidence was much lower in the 18-27 bracket (42 per cent) but almost a quarter of this group used their phones out of habit.
The 48–57-year-old group were the lowest users of phones while driving (37 per cent)
Mobile phone use included navigation apps (23%), checking the phone while stopped at traffic lights (8%) changing songs on a playlist and reading or replying to a text message.
Despite the increasing confidence in using a phone while driving, 30 per cent of drivers surveyed felt texting while driving was most likely to result in a road fatality, putting it as more dangerous than speeding (18%) and not wearing a seatbelt (5%).
Only drink driving (40%) was considered more likely to result in fatality.
Deterrents to phone use include tougher penalties (35 per cent) Mobile detection cameras (23 per cent), with 18 per cent preferring increased awareness of distracted driving. Over twelve per cent of drivers we asked said nothing would be effective.