The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has published new research highlighting the dangers of drivers becoming distracted by mobile phones when in charge of a vehicle.

Despite overwhelming support from the public for a ban on the use of mobile devices in cars, the IAM showed that more than 750,000 fixed penalty notices for this offence have been served since 2007.

Furthermore, analysis of 11 recent cases in which motorists lost concentration as a result of using a mobile phone revealed six incidents saw individuals rear-end another road user due to their lack of focus, three involved head-on collisions after drivers drifted into oncoming traffic and in two cases a pedestrian was killed by drivers mounting kerbs.

IAM chief executive Simon Best commented: "Never use your phone while driving. Whether you have a hands free kit or use loudspeaker, it doesn't matter. Using your phone in any capacity reduces your attention from the task at hand – driving."

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