THE IAM is making headlines today with revelation that a terrifying number of drivers are taking photos of themselves while they’re supposed to be controlling a car. And it’s dangerous.

Believe it or not, taking one hand off the wheel and pouting at your phone, presumably after checking that your hair is just right in that handy mirror that car makers so thoughtfully hang from the roof, is reckoned to take a bit of your attention away from that oh-so-dull task of piloting a couple of tons of metal at speeds the human brain has only had a century to adapt to after millennia of travelling no faster than a trotting horse.

Of course once that perfect snap has been taken there’s the vital task of uploading it to SnapChat/Instagram/Facebook (delete as necessary) while trying to ignore that unsettling pitching motion as pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and anything else that happens to be in the vicinity goes under the wheels. At least if you’ve got the music on loud enough you won’t hear the screaming.

In all seriousness, the Institute of Advanced Motorists’ study really is an eye-opener because of the sheer number of people who admit to actually taking selfies while driving. From the sample group of 500 drivers who answered the questionnaire, 9% (that’s 45) said they’d taken driving selfies in the last month alone. Presumably that figure is at the low end of the truth, since surely some guilty parties will have at least had enough shame to lie in their responses.

Of those who are 18-24, the figure rose to 15%, and it was an even higher 19% among 25-34 year olds. Nearly one in five, and in an age group where they can no longer claim that they’re young and stupid anymore. Only once you get to people over 55 does the problem go away.

Beyond those findings, the report reveals that seven percent watch videos or stream TV while driving (13% of 18-24s, 15% of 25-34s), eight percent made video calls, seven percent made videos of themselves and 18% accessed the internet.

Men are also significantly more likely to use their phones for all these stupid actions than women – on the main ‘selfie’ question, 12% took one in the last month, compared to 5% of female respondents.

The IAM is calling for campaigns this behaviour to be made as unacceptable as drink-driving, and it’s hard to argue that they don’t have a point.

Be careful out there…

Here’s the full breakdown of figures:

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