A worrying percentage of motorists have admitted to multi-tasking while driving in new research from mycarneedsa.com.

The survey found that 70% of motorists eat and drink behind the wheel, while 11% of motorists admitted to putting on cosmetics and 51% of motorists admitted to changing their satnav while driving.

As many as 17% of drivers confessed to indulging passion with their partners while behind the wheel.

Scott Hamilton, managing director of MyCarNeedsA.com, said: “Road traffic accidents make up for a large percentage of personal injury compensation claims.

“Our statistics show that a large number of UK motorists are driving while distracted and are effectively multi-tasking behind the wheel.  This is heightening the risk of accidents and is making the roads much more dangerous for other drivers. It is very disappointing to see that many motorists appear to be happy to break the law, despite the increased licence points and fines.

“Clearly, there are not enough deterrents in place – many motorists are getting away with dangerous driving because of the dramatic cuts in the number of road traffic police. A report by the Transport Select Committee said that the number of specialised road police officers has fallen 38% since 2005 from 7,104 to 4,356 in 2014. In the same period the number of detected motoring offences more than halved from 4.33million to 1.62million.”

The research also reveals that 20% of motorists said they use their phones to make calls while driving and 6% admitted to checking social media.

According to the latest figures, 22 people were killed and 99 seriously injured in accidents in 2015 in which the driver using a mobile phone was a contributory factor. 

Figures released by the Department of Transport last year also revealed that there was a 3% increase in the number of road traffic accidents on UK roads between June 215 and June 2016. Of the 24,620 deaths and serious injuries on British roads, 68%of them were down to driver error. 

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