Driver mobile phone use and seatbelt wearing rates for 2023.
From: Department for
Transport
Published 30 May 2024
Applies to England and Scotland
Documents
Mobile phone use by drivers:
England 2023
HTML
Seatbelt wearing rates: England
2023
HTML
Seatbelt and mobile phone use
data tables: England (2023) and Scotland (2024)
ODS, 23.9 KB
Seatbelt and mobile phone
surveys technical report
ODT, 1.31 MB
Details
This publication presents information about the proportion of
drivers observed using a hand-held mobile phone and the
proportion of drivers and passengers wearing seatbelts whilst
driving in England, and separately in Scotland, from a roadside
observation survey commissioned by the Department for
Transport. Due to changes in the survey methodology,
results are not directly comparable with previous surveys
in 2021 and 2017.
These statistics show, for weekdays in England in autumn 2023:
- 0.3% of all vehicle drivers were observed using a mobile
phone whilst driving (a similar proportion to that for Scotland
based on data collected in early 2024)
- 97.6% of drivers were observed using a seatbelt (compared
with 96.4% for Scotland)
- 95.2% of front seat passengers were observed using a seatbelt
(compared with 95.7% for Scotland)
While seatbelt wearing rates remain high overall, the latest road
casualty statistics for 2022 show that 21% of car occupant
fatalities in reported road collisions in Great Britain were not
wearing a seatbelt (table RAS0711). This indicates
that car occupants who do not wear a seatbelt are
disproportionately likely to be killed in road collisions.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for
Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of
trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for
Statistics that all producers of official statistics should
adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly by
emailing roadacc.stats@dft.gov.uk with
any comments about how we meet these standards.
