One in Five Drivers Now Checks Their Phone at the Wheel, the Most Since 2016

If you have noticed more drivers glancing down at a glowing screen in traffic, you are not imagining it. New research from the RAC suggests that handheld phone use behind the wheel has climbed back to levels last seen almost a decade ago, with one in five drivers now admitting to checking messages or notifications while driving. That is the highest proportion since 2016, the year the problem was so serious that the Government doubled the penalty. The figures point to a worrying drift back towards the bad habits that tougher fines were meant to stamp out, and they carry real consequences for your licence, your insurance and your safety.

The RAC Report on Motoring 2026, based on a survey of 2,238 drivers weighted to be nationally representative, found that the share of motorists who admit to using a handheld phone to browse the internet, send a text or post on social media has risen every year since the pandemic to reach 15%. That figure last stood at 15% in 2018 and fell to a low of 7% in 2021. In other words, the gains made during and just after lockdown have now been wiped out. For drivers who like to think the message about phones and driving has sunk in, the data tells a different story.

The numbers behind the eight year high

The headline finding is that illegal handheld use for anything other than a voice call has reached its highest point in eight years. One in five drivers (20%) admit to checking messages or notifications, and 12% say they have taken a photo or recorded a video with their phone while driving, up from 8% in 2024 and the highest rate since 2019. Perhaps most alarming, the proportion who admit to watching, recording or livestreaming video at the wheel in the past 12 months has risen from 5% in 2024 to almost one in ten (9%) this year.

The one type of phone use that has actually fallen is the old fashioned voice call. The share of drivers admitting to making or receiving calls on a handheld phone now stands at 20%, down from 27% in 2024 and 23% in 2019. The trouble, as the RAC points out, is that this has simply been replaced by activities that demand far more of a driver’s eyes and attention. A phone call can be ended in a second; composing a social media post or filming a video keeps a driver’s focus off the road for far longer.

Younger drivers are by some distance the most likely to break the law. Half of under-25s (49%, compared with 20% overall) say they have made or received a call without a hands-free kit, and 39% have typed a message or social media post while driving, up from 27% in both 2024 and 2025. Four in ten (42%) admit to making or receiving video calls while driving, the highest level the RAC has ever recorded, while 30% have taken a photo or filmed a video and more than a fifth (22%) have played a game on their phone at the wheel. Among 25 to 44 year olds, admitted livestreaming has jumped from 10% two years ago to 17% this year.

What it costs you if you are caught

The penalty for using a handheld phone while driving is six penalty points and a £200 fixed penalty notice. That single offence is enough to cost a newly qualified driver their licence outright, because anyone who picks up six or more points within two years of passing their test has their licence revoked and must reapply and retake both the theory and practical tests. For more experienced drivers, six points takes you halfway to the 12 point threshold that triggers a court appearance and a likely driving ban.

The current penalty dates back to early 2017. When the RAC published its findings in 2016, with concern about phone use at its peak of 41% and ranking as drivers’ single biggest worry, the Government responded by doubling the fine and points from £100 and three points to £200 and six points. The rules were tightened again in March 2022 so that almost any use of a handheld device while driving became illegal, including scrolling through playlists, taking photos and playing games, closing a loophole that had previously allowed some drivers to escape conviction by arguing they were not communicating.

There is a financial sting beyond the fine itself. Penalty points stay on your record for the purposes of insurance for several years, and insurers treat a mobile phone conviction (the CU80 endorsement) as a serious marker of risk. A single conviction can push up a premium by a significant margin, and at a time when prices are already climbing, that is a cost worth avoiding. Drivers worried about wider increases can read our guide to the biggest shake-up of driving laws in years and what could change next.

Why enforcement is the missing piece

One of the most striking findings in the research is that drivers’ concern about other people using phones illegally has actually fallen, even as the behaviour has become more common. Concern about the problem, compared with other motoring issues such as potholes and fuel prices, has dropped to 19%, having peaked at 41% in 2016. The RAC suggests that fewer drivers fear being caught, which blunts the deterrent effect of the penalty no matter how tough it looks on paper.

RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said the increase in risky phone use, especially among the young, showed that the penalties “clearly aren’t enough to stop a lot of drivers brazenly using their phones illegally”. He added that despite pole-mounted cameras now being used to look down into vehicles to catch drivers on their phones or without seatbelts, the survey suggests “there isn’t much concern about being caught”, and urged more police forces to adopt the latest detection technology.

The police share that concern. Chief Constable Jo Shiner, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for roads policing, described the rise as “deeply concerning, particularly among younger drivers”. She said that whether a driver is checking messages, filming or using apps, “these behaviours take attention away from the road at critical moments”, and called it “dangerous, reckless behaviour that puts everyone at risk”. The Government’s recent Road Safety Strategy has committed to tracking phone use every three years as one of 17 new safety performance indicators, though the RAC argues the scale of the problem demands action sooner.

The human cost is not abstract. Department for Transport data shows that a driver using a mobile device was a contributory factor in 340 reported road collisions in 2024, of which 20 were fatal. Separately, the number of drivers in England and Wales convicted of using a handheld phone reached 40,723 in 2024, the highest since 2016 and up from 36,813 the year before. Detection is clearly happening; the question is whether it is widespread enough to change behaviour.

What to do

The simplest protection is to put the phone out of reach and out of mind before you set off. Use Do Not Disturb While Driving, which both iPhone and Android offer and which silences notifications automatically once the phone detects you are in a moving vehicle. Set up any navigation, music or calls before you pull away, and mount the phone in a proper cradle so you are never tempted to pick it up. Remember that the law applies even when you are stationary in traffic or waiting at lights, and that touching the phone to pay at a drive-through is also an offence unless the engine is off and the handbrake is on.

If you employ drivers or have a young driver in the family, the data is a useful conversation starter. The figures show the habit is most entrenched among the under-25s, the same group already paying the highest insurance premiums and most likely to lose a licence to a six point penalty. A black box or telematics policy, which monitors phone handling and harsh driving, can both lower premiums for careful young drivers and provide a clear record of behaviour. With prices rising again across the market, keeping a clean licence has rarely been more valuable.

Phone use behind the wheel is one of the few road risks that is entirely within a driver’s control. The technology to silence distractions already sits in every modern phone, and using it costs nothing. With admitted use back at an eight year high and enforcement cameras spreading, the drivers who keep their hands off their phones are the ones least likely to face a fine, a ban or far worse.

Sources:

• RAC Media Centre: Mobile menace, handheld phone use hits eight-year high
• GOV.UK: Using mobile phones when driving, the law
• GOV.UK: Road Safety Strategy