Despite cars getting safer and safer, there have been an increase in car accidents, particularly amongst the 20-something age group. This group of drivers are the least experienced, usually having been driving for five years or less, but also the age-group most glued to their smartphones.
Could smartphone use be contributing to car accidents in inexperienced drivers on Australian roads? Likely.
Hands free, sort of
While most new cars have bluetooth facilities, not all do, which can leave drivers fiddling with their smartphones to put music on, talk on the phone, or send a quick text at the traffic lights.
You’ve probably been in the car with someone who sends messages or answers calls while driving. It’s very common, but also wildly unsafe and illegal for that reason. So why do people still text and drive?
We have access to our smartphones just about all the time, and are used to responding to messages quickly. If we are on the way to meet friends, and one of them messages and asks, Where are you? it seems right to say, “5 mins away” instead of having them then not hear from you and call, or think you are not coming, or think you are being rude. There is an assumption of the immediacy of our communications.
Older generations who weren’t brought up in the mobile phone era understand the concept of making a plan and sticking to it, and understanding the things that can go wrong that you must second-guess when waiting for friends who are late or who don’t show up. That patience, and knowing just about anything could happen in between (but that is unlikely), is something that you learn through necessity.
Separation anxiety
When you can be in contact with others without delay, the idea of delaying can cause anxiety, and so it’s preferable to a person who has only ever known instant communications to take that risk. These 20-somethings also don’t know all the possible things that can go wrong in a car, making this combination of risks problematic.
A quarter of all 20-somethings have had a car accident in the previous five years, which is higher than any other age group.
The stats on road users and accidents in Victoria
There are more drivers on our roads now than ever before, with 17 million drivers on the roads. This is an increase of about a million drivers since the same time in 2012. It makes sense therefore that more accidents have occurred, but there has also been an increase of about one per cent in the rate of accidents.
In June 2008, 18.7 per cent of Australian drivers reported being involved in at least one car accident in the previous five years. In June 2013, this number had increased to 19.6 per cent. Overall this is about three million car accidents, ranging from a minor ding to serious smashes, in the past five years.
If you have been in a car accident that was not your fault, and you are struggling to make a claim on someone else’s insurance policy, give Third Party Claims a call. We can have a confidential chat about your circumstances and recommend a course of action.