Skip to main content

One-tenth of car accidents in France are caused by mobile telephone use

A French study cliams that nearly one-tenth of car accidents causing bodily injuries are associated with the use of mobile telephones. Compared to drivers who do not have phone conversations while driving, the risk of an accident increases threefold whether a driver is talking directly into a mobile phone or using a hands free kit. At any given moment, it is calculated that roughly six per cent of all drivers are talking on their mobile phones or hands-free kits.
May 16, 2012 Read time: 1 min
A French study claims that nearly one-tenth of car accidents causing bodily injuries are associated with the use of mobile telephones. Compared to drivers who do not have phone conversations while driving, the risk of an accident increases threefold whether a driver is talking directly into a mobile phone or using a hands free kit. At any given moment, it is calculated that roughly six per cent of all drivers are talking on their mobile phones or hands-free kits.

The report was published by Inserm, the French national institute for health and medical research, and the Ifsttar institute for transport science and technology.

Related Content

  • Drugs and driving: new international study
    January 25, 2012
    The incidence of drugs among drivers injured or killed in road accidents is in the range of 14-17 per cent, according to a new report published by the International Transport Forum, a transport think tank at the OECD. Cannabis and benzodiazepines top the list of drugs involved in lethal motor accidents, according to the study.
  • Will driverless cars increase reliance on roads?
    February 29, 2016
    Researchers warn that driverless vehicles could intensify car use, reducing or even eliminating promised energy savings and environmental benefits. Development of autonomous driving systems has accelerated rapidly since the unveiling of Google’s driverless car in 2012, and energy efficiency due to improved traffic flow has been touted as one of the technology’s key advantages. However, new research by scientists from the University of Leeds, University of Washington and Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
  • The effectiveness of roads policing
    March 6, 2015
    The Joint Roads Policing Unit of Thames Valley Police and Hampshire Constabulary in the UK commissioned the Transport Research laboratory (TRL) to evaluate the effectiveness of their roads policing strategy in terms of reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured in road collisions. The focus was on the fatal four causes of collisions: speeding, drink-driving, not wearing a seat belt and drivers using mobile phones. TRL carried out a detailed literature review, in-depth review and analysis of
  • Self-driving car safety perspectives
    June 2, 2015
    At yesterday’s Opening Plenary, Chris Urmson’s keynote speech dealt with the reality of driverless cars on our roads. By far and away their greatest benefit to mankind will be the potential to achieve an incredible saving of life and injury on the roads, as Urmson, director of the Google Self-Driving Car program, revealed to delegates. In response to an Associated Press article last month disclosing that self-driving cars have been involved in four accidents in the state of California, Urmson revealed th