Smartwatches are undeniably the next must-have gadget. Here at ChooseMyCar, we love the latest bit of tech, but there’s one thing about smartwatches that we need to talk about.
We believed that smartwatches might pose a bit of a threat to drivers, who feel it’s ok to check them while driving, even though they wouldn’t use their phone the same way. We decided to commission some research to see if we were right – and our stats showed that nearly HALF of UK drivers who wear smartwatches admit to regularly using them while driving their vehicles.
Men were more likely to check them than women, with a whopping 49 per cent admitting to using the devices while driving. And younger drivers were the worst culprits, with a staggering 58 per cent stating they used their smartwatches while in control of a vehicle.
The use of smartwatches while driving varied geographically, with the most prolific use being seen in London, where 61 per cent of people admitted to checking while driving. Outside of London, the cities with the highest incidence of drivers checking their smartwatches were Belfast, Birmingham and Bristol.
The most common reason for people to look at their devices was to read a message, with a fifth of drivers admitting to this (18%). Accepting and declining a call was the second most common use, followed by replying to messages while driving.
This is particularly concerning in the wake of the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) study, which suggested that smartwatches were actually more distracting to drivers than mobile phones. Statistics from the TRL study showed that a driver reading a message on a smartwatch would take 2.52 seconds to react in an emergency, compared to 1.85 seconds for a driver using a handheld smartphone and 0.9 seconds for a driver talking to a passenger in the car.
Our founder, Nick Zapolski, is concerned about the results.
“These statistics show a terrifying trend of UK drivers – especially younger ones – feeling that it’s acceptable to use their smartwatches despite how this impacts their driving. As the use of these devices becomes more prolific, that means there will be literally millions of drivers behaving like this.
“Studies have shown that smartwatches are actually more distracting to check while driving than mobile phones, and yet the rules and regulations around using them are not clearly in place. It’s a disaster waiting to happen and we would urge the Government and smartwatch producers to take action on preventing drivers from using the devices. There’s currently very little clarity or publicity around the legalities of smartwatch use while driving, and if that continues it’s going to cost lives.”
So let’s be smart – and not use smartwatches while driving!
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