Young drivers 'distracted by gadgets'

Young people are "over confident", according to a motoring group

Young people are the most likely to be seriously distracted by in-car gadgets while driving, says motoring organisation the RAC.

Fifty-five percent of 17 to 24-year-olds said they'd had a major loss of concentration while adjusting technology like MP3 systems or a sat-nav.

One in five young drivers also risked not hearing car horns or emergency vehicles by listening to music through their headphones.

The RAC says 17 to 24-year-olds can be over confident because they have grown up with lots of technology.

The only specific law about using gadgets in a car relates to mobile phones and more than a quarter of young drivers admitted texting while on the road.

However, police do have the power to arrest motorists for any reason if they've been driving without proper attention.

Have Your Say: Are you easily distracted while driving?

The survey of more than 1,000 motorists of all ages found the biggest distraction overall was the car stereo, with 57% saying they'd been seriously distracted.

Satellite navigation was next with 41%, followed by mobile phones (32%), and air conditioning (31%).

Newsbeat listener Richard, from Brentwood in Essex, admitted listening to music on his iPod while driving.

The 19-year-old also had a close call recently when his mobile went off in the car.

"Even though I wasn't actually on the phone, just having it go off is a big distraction.

"I looked down for a split second and the car in front of me was braking, which caused me to slam on my brakes pretty hard."

He said after hearing about the report he'd try to be more careful behind the wheel.

Make-up

If a driver travelling at 70mph loses concentration for five seconds, it could take the length of three football pitches to stop a car.

"Cars travel amazing distances over very short time scales," says Adrian Tink from the RAC. "At any second something could happen that requires you to take action. It could be fatal.

"We've even had people telling us they're putting on make-up behind the wheel - which is a quite remarkable thing to be doing when you're driving a tonne-and-a-half of metal."

Newsbeat found that people agreed it was easy to get distracted behind the wheel.

Emanuel, 19 from London, said music and eating were major preoccupations while driving: "Mobile phones, checking your tracks, iPods, that kind of stuff.

"I've even seen people peeling bananas, eating apples and opening chocolate bars."

Christian, 19, said he was worried about women putting on make-up behind the wheel and people changing their music.

"When you see people putting their make-up on and stuff it's just kind of scary," he said.

"The bit that really scares me is if I'm in someone's car and they have one of these radios where the front pops out and they're fiddling around trying to clip it in."

But 19-year-old Chevalley from Edinburgh said she listened to her MP3 player while driving and was safe behind the wheel.

She said: "I did change the radio but I have it on settings so it's easier to change."