Smartphone Apps Creating More Distraction for Young Drivers on the Road

Smartphone Apps Creating More Distraction for Young Drivers on the Road

LONDON, April 27, 2012/PRNewswire/ --

    Recent survey findings from ingenie(R), the car insurance brand for young drivers,
have revealed that 58% of 17-25 year old drivers agree that smartphone apps are causing
young people to be more distracted at the wheel

    ingenie (http://www.ingenie.com) commissioned the survey of 1,000 young drivers,
conducted by One Poll, which has uncovered the extent of how smartphones and social media
are distracting 17-25 year olds when behind the wheel.

    The latest ingenie survey revealed:

   
    - Over 40% admitted to answering their phones while driving without a
      hands-free set
    - 44% said they had sent a text message, and 62% said they had read a message
      while they were driving
    - 1 in 6 male drivers under 25 has crashed due to mobile phone usage at the
      wheel
    - One third of under 25s who use Facebook on their phone admitted to using it
      whilst driving
    - 18% of under 25s who have Draw Something on their phone have played the game
      whilst driving - 17% for Angry Birds
    - Hands-free kits encourage 53% more young drivers to make longer calls at the
      wheel (longer than 5 minutes)

    The results collected from the survey suggest that the increasing range of apps and
functionality available on mobile devices is contributing to young driver distraction -
even mobile games, which take a high level of concentration are taking young people's
attention away from the roads.

    On the growing range of dangerous distractions created by smartphones, ingenie founder
and CEO Richard King said, "We're in the middle of a perfect storm, where the rapid growth
of social media and mobile is creating a new breed of in-car distraction. We're
increasingly using smartphones to occupy ourselves during down time, but driving is an
active pursuit and it really does need our full attention. As well as not texting or
making calls, we should all pledge not to tweet, update our status or be tempted by
anything else our phone has to offer whilst driving."

    King added, "At ingenie we're doing our bit to prevent distraction - we won't send
driver feedback messages to your mobile if we know the ignition is on, and when our
contact centre makes outbound calls, the first question they'll ask is 'are you driving?'"

    ingenie commissioned the survey ahead of its #DontDriveDistracted campaign on Twitter
to reduce road crashes related to driver distraction. The campaign launches on Friday 27th
April with celebrity supporters Gary Lineker, Omid Djalili and Williams F1 Team driver
Bruno Senna - each making a pledge to cut out distracting behaviour behind the wheel. For
each person who makes a pledge on Twitter to not drive distracted, ingenie will donate
GBP1 to RoadSafe.

    Gary Lineker, Omid Djalili and Bruno Senna have each recorded their own video pledge,
found at http://www.ingenie.com/distraction. Drivers across the UK can then either
make a similar pledge, or write their own, and contribute to ingenie's donation to
RoadSafe.

    About ingenie:

    ingenie is a digital car insurance brand for young drivers aged 17-25 that uses the
latest telematics technology (read more: http://www.ingenie.com/telematics) to build a
picture of a driver's individual style and reward those who drive well with cheaper
insurance premiums.

    Richard King, ingenie founder and CEO, had previous start-up success in the
technology/insurance sector as co-founder and executive director of Innovation Group plc,
which he helped grow from a start-up to a listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2000
with a peak valuation of GBP1bn. Chief Underwriter Chris McKee was formerly on the board
of Direct Line and has more than 30 years' experience in direct insurance. Steve
Broughton, a highly respected insurance industry professional of more than 30 years, is
the chairman of ingenie. In addition to his executive career at RSA Insurance Group,
Broughton is also a former chairman of the Motor Insurers' Bureau and is currently the
Chairman of Tesco Underwriting Limited.

    ingenie was launched at the end of 2011 with investment from footballer turned
broadcaster Gary Lineker (who also supports the brand as an ambassador), Williams F1 Team
(who provide expertise in telematics and assist in promoting the brand and road safety)
and leading figures from UK business including Sir Martin Broughton, Chairman of British
Airways and Gavin Patterson, Chief Executive of BT Retail (BT Group PLC).

    http://www.ingenie.com

    About RoadSafe

    RoadSafe is a leading forum for promoting and devising solutions to road safety
problems. Its mission is to reduce road deaths and injuries by sharing knowledge and
encouraging innovation. The not-for-profit partnership brings together the motor industry
and related companies, traffic engineers, the police and road safety professionals.

    http://www.roadsafe.com

   
    For more information please contact:

    David Cummins
    ING MEDIA
    T: +44(0)20-7247-8334
    M: +44(0)7534-970-722
    david@ing-media.com

Source: ingenie