On our roads, many mistakes are still made every day in connection with mobile phone use behind the wheel. This bad habit causes at least 50 deaths every year.

To get a picture of our mobile phone use in the car, the Vias Traffic Institute collected data as part of a large-scale European study. To get a representative picture, all data were compared with data from 2013.

A lot has changed since 2013, also on a digital level. For example, we are increasingly calling with a hands-free kit. But by scrolling, sending messages and reading, we look much more in the direction of our smartphone, and that is a lot more dangerous.

Source: Statistics data research Traffic Institute Vias. (2022, October 26). Het Laatste Nieuws. 

The following conclusions emerged from the study:

• 26% of Flemish people text while driving, which is 4% above the European average.
• In 2020, 107,686 fines were issued for mobile phone use behind the wheel. This is more than the three previous years.

• 1 in 6 drivers call behind the wheel without a hands-free kit.
• The situation is slightly better in Flanders than in Wallonia and Brussels, possibly because fines are issued here more often.
• 2 percent of drivers were caught calling or scrolling on their mobile phone, compared to 3 percent in 2013. A drop of a third: the hands-free kit has been introduced.
• There are differences among the drivers caught: where it concerns 2 percent of car drivers, the figure climbs to 4 percent for drivers of vans and even to 6 percent for truck drivers.
• Belgian drivers are more often distracted on the motorway (5 percent) than in built-up areas (2 percent). Using a mobile phone on a motorway, where there are no cyclists or pedestrians, gives a false sense of security, experts say.
• At the same time, it appears that no less than 59 percent of the drivers who use a mobile phone are now manipulating their smartphone to read or send messages, check the internet, etc. In 2013, this was “only” 38 percent. Reading messages or emails is even more dangerous than calling, because drivers completely lose sight of the road situation.

Many different organizations advocate the use of smart camera systems to prevent mobile phone use behind the wheel.

D'hondt Insurance, as an insurance broker, is also very involved in predictive insurance and road safety. To do our part, we are developing the prevention tool Safe.T. 

This prevention tool analyzes the driver's driving behavior (regardless of the type of vehicle) and informs you about the following parameters:

• Speed
• Acceleration
• Deceleration
• Mobile phone use during the ride
• Distance to the vehicle in front
• …

Based on this acquired knowledge, we propose a 'coaching process' to individually improve the driving behavior of your employee with the ultimate goal of safer, cheaper and more sustainable driving behaviour.

Source: Nws, V. (2022, October 26). We are increasingly scrolling and swiping behind the wheel and that is even more dangerous than calling. vrtnws.be. https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2022/10/25/smartphone-in-de-auto-of-de-vrachtwagen/