Survey of driver mobile phone and seat belt use published
Transport Scotland analysts today released results from an observational survey of seatbelt use by vehicle occupants and mobile phone use by drivers.
Mobile Phone Survey
The mobile phone survey, which recorded the behaviour of over 14,000 drivers in Scotland, found that there has been an increase in mobile phone use by drivers since the previous survey in 2014.
Mobile phone use has increased from 1.6% of drivers in 2014 to 2% at moving (free-flowing) sites and from 1.7% in 2014 to 2.5% at stationary (traffic light controlled junction) sites. This change has been driven by increased at-ear use, as in-hand mobile phone use (for example, texting) has remained static for car drivers and decreased for drivers of ‘other vehicles’ (vans, lorries, buses, coaches, and mini-buses).
The survey found that ‘other vehicle’ drivers had higher mobile phone use rates compared to car drivers (3.0% and 1.8% respectively at moving sites).
Younger drivers (17-29) were more likely to be observed using a mobile phone than those in older age groups, with young men being the category of drivers observed with the highest mobile phone usage (5.9%).
Seatbelt survey
The seatbelt survey, which observed over 7,000 vehicle occupants, found increased wearing rates for drivers and front seat passengers in all vehicles.
The proportion of all drivers recorded using a seatbelt in 2017 was 97.3%, up from 96.4% in 2014 and 95% in 2009.
The survey found that female car drivers were somewhat more likely to wear a seatbelt than their male counterparts (99.4% compared to 97.9%), and seatbelt use was generally high amongst car occupants of all ages.
Wearing rates for ‘other vehicle’ (vans, lorries, buses, coaches, and mini-buses) drivers has increased from 88.5% in 2014 to 92.5% in 2017. However, wearing rates for ‘other vehicle’ drivers remain lower than for car drivers (98.6%).