Seatbelt and Mobile Phone Usage Survey Scotland, 2014
4. Mobile Phone Survey Results
The 2014 mobile phone survey resulted in 13,493 drivers being observed in Scotland, the majority of which (82.6%) were in cars. The total included 7,289 drivers at moving sites (54% of total) and 6,204 drivers at stationary sites (46% of total).
Key Findings
- In 2014, the proportion of car drivers observed using a mobile phone whilst driving was 1.3% at moving sites and 1.6% at stationary sites.
- 1.5% of car drivers were observed at moving sites making hand-held use of a mobile phone in the 2014 survey for England. The usage rate for car drivers at stationary sites in England was substantially higher at 2.7%, resulting in a 2.4% usage rate for Great Britain at such sites.
- In Scotland, the mobile phone usage rate by drivers of 'Other vehicles' (vans, lorries, buses, coaches and mini-buses) was notably higher at moving sites (2.9%) compared to car drivers.
- Mobile phone use by van drivers at moving sites was found to be notably higher in Scotland (3.6%) compared to England (2.5%) and Great Britain overall (2.7%).
- Drivers were more likely to be witnessed with a mobile phone in their hand (indicating texting or internet usage for instance) than at their ear (indicating making a call). This was the case at both moving and stationary sites.
- Data collected at stationary sites revealed that younger car drivers (those aged between 17 and 29) were much more likely to be observed using a mobile phone than those in older age groups. All of the younger drivers recorded as using a mobile phone were observed with a phone in their hand.
The majority of the following results are based upon the data recorded during weekday observations, except from those sections which explicitly discuss weekends.
Usage rates are presented separately for moving and stationary sites as it is possible that the prevalence and type of mobile phone use may vary across different driving circumstances. Moreover, the data recorded and the weightings applied during the analysis procedure differed between the site categories.
In addition, results presented in Sections 4.4 to 4.8 focus solely on mobile phone use by car drivers.
For the purposes of analysis, 'Car drivers' in the mobile phone survey results includes drivers of private cars, taxis and private hire vehicles. The 'Other vehicle' category includes drivers of vans, lorries, buses, coaches and mini-buses, unless otherwise stated.
Where figures are used to present results, the corresponding tables can be found in Appendix B. Tables are also provided on the use of child restraints, although the sample sizes mean these results should be interpreted with caution. Due to the rounding of the figures for overall mobile phone usage, the total in the 'All use' column may be slightly higher or lower than the 'At-Ear' and 'In-Hand' columns combined.
Figures relating to the mobile phone usage rates in England and across Great Britain have been provided by the Department of Transport and may be calculated in a different way from the figures for Scotland. However, broad comparisons of headline figures should be reliable. Further information and comparisons are available in the DfT (2015) publication Seatbelt and Mobile Phone Usage Survey: 2014.
4.1 Overview of Observations
The 2014 mobile phone survey resulted in 13,493 drivers being observed in Scotland, the majority of which (82.6%) were in cars. The total included 7,289 drivers at moving sites (54% of total) and 6,204 drivers at stationary sites (46% of total).
Further information on the number of observations is provided in Table 4.1 below.
| Vehicle type | Moving sites | Stationary sites |
|---|---|---|
| Car | 6,019 | 5,123 |
| Other vehicle | 1,270 | 1,081 |
| All vehicles | 7,289 | 6,204 |
4.2 Overall Mobile Phone Use
Analysis of the weighted data collected through the mobile phone observation survey found that mobile phone use by drivers was similar at both moving and stationary sites, with 1.6% and 1.7% observed using a hand-held phone respectively (see Table 4.2).
| Site type | All use | At-Ear | In-Hand | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moving | 1.6% | 0.2% | 1.3% | 7,289 |
| Stationary | 1.7% | 0.2% | 1.4% | 6,204 |
Across both site categories, drivers were more likely to be observed with a phone in their hand than at their ear suggesting that most mobile phone usage whilst driving was for a purpose other than making a call, for instance, texting or using social media.
Whilst the trend of 'In-Hand' usage being more prominent was also reflected in the findings for England (and Great Britain), the overall usage rate at stationary sites was notably higher in England (2.5%) (see Table 4.3).
| Site type | England | Great Britain | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All use | At-Ear | In-Hand | Sample size | All use | At-Ear | In-Hand | Sample size | |
| Moving | 1.6% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 21,679 | 1.6% | 0.5% | 1.1% | 28,968 |
| Stationary | 2.5% | 0.3% | 2.2% | 12,730 | 2.3% | 0.3% | 2.0% | 18,968 |
4.3 Mobile Phone Use by Vehicle Type
Car drivers were less likely than those in other vehicles to be using a mobile phone across all sites, particularly at moving sites where 1.3% of car drivers were observed using a mobile phone compared to 2.9% of drivers of other vehicles (see Table 4.4 and Figure 4.1).
| Vehicle type | Moving sites | Stationary sites | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All use | At-Ear | In-Hand | Sample size | All use | At-Ear | In-Hand | Sample size | |
| Car | 1.3% | 0.2% | 1.1% | 6,019 | 1.6% | 0.2% | 1.5% | 5,123 |
| Other vehicle | 2.9% | 0.5% | 2.4% | 1,270 | 1.8% | 0.6% | 1.2% | 1,081 |
| All vehicles | 1.6% | 0.2% | 1.3% | 7,289 | 1.7% | 0.2% | 1.4% | 6,204 |
There are no previous figures for mobile phone use in Scotland available for comparison and previous studies in England did not distinguish between different types of use. However, the 2014 figure for car drivers at moving sites in Scotland (1.3%) is slightly lower than the 1.5% observed making hand-held use of a mobile phone in the 2014 survey for England. The usage rate for car drivers at stationary sites in England was substantially higher at 2.7%, resulting in a 2.4% GB usage rate at such sites (see Table 4.5).
| Site type | England | Great Britain | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All use | At-Ear | In-Hand | Sample size | All use | At-Ear | In-Hand | Sample size | |
| Moving | 1.5% | 0.5% | 0.9% | 17,783 | 1.4% | 0.4% | 1.0% | 23,802 |
| Stationary | 2.7% | 0.3% | 2.4% | 10,171 | 2.4% | 0.2% | 2.1% | 15,307 |
Considering 'Other vehicles' in Scotland, van drivers were more likely than lorry drivers to be observed using a mobile phone at both moving and stationary sites (see Table 4.6).
| Vehicle type | Moving sites | Stationary sites | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All use | At-Ear | In-Hand | Sample size | All use | At-Ear | In-Hand | Sample size | |
| Van | 3.6% | 0.5% | 3.1% | 908 | 2.3% | 0.7% | 1.7% | 800 |
| Lorry | 1.9% | 0.7% | 1.1% | 260 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 202 |
| Van and Lorry | 3.3% | 0.6% | 2.7% | 1,168 | 1.9% | 0.5% | 1.3% | 1,002 |
Mobile phone use by van drivers at moving sites was found to be notably higher in Scotland (3.6%) compared to England (2.5%) and Great Britain overall (2.7%). In particular, van drivers were more likely to be observed with a phone in their hand at moving sites in Scotland (see Table 4.7).
| Location | Moving sites | Stationary sites | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All use | At-Ear | In-Hand | Sample size | All use | At-Ear | In-Hand | Sample size | |
| Scotland | 3.6% | 0.5% | 3.1% | 908 | 2.3% | 0.7% | 1.7% | 800 |
| England | 2.5% | 0.8% | 1.7% | 2,859 | 2.8% | 0.4% | 2.4% | 1,701 |
| Great Britain | 2.7% | 0.7% | 1.9% | 3,767 | 2.7% | 0.4% | 2.3% | 2,502 |
4.4 Mobile Phone Use by Gender
Male and female car drivers were found to have similar mobile phone usage rates at moving and stationary sites, with both more likely to be observed using their phones at stationary sites (see Table 4.8).
| Site type | Male | Sample size | Female | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moving | 1.3% | 3,472 | 1.2% | 2,535 |
| Stationary | 1.6% | 2,892 | 1.7% | 2,222 |
Women were almost twice as likely to be observed at stationary sites using a mobile phone 'In-Hand' than at the moving sites. The difference in the proportions observed with a phone in their hand at stationary and moving sites was noticeably larger for women than for men (see Figure 4.2).
4.5 Mobile Phone Use by Age
Analysis of the data collected at stationary sites by age found that younger car drivers (those aged between 17 and 29) were much more likely to be witnessed using a mobile phone than those in older age groups. Moreover, whilst a greater proportion of drivers of all ages were observed with a phone in their hand than at their ear, this was especially prominent amongst younger drivers where of the 3.9% recorded using a phone, none were recorded as holding a phone to their ear (see Figure 4.3).
Despite having the largest proportion of drivers with a phone at their ear, drivers over the age of 60 were least likely to be observed using a mobile phone overall. This suggests that mobile phone use decreases as drivers get older.
The usage rates according to age followed a similar pattern for both men and women, with the highest overall usage rate found amongst younger men (see Table B.3 in Appendix B for further information).
4.6 Mobile Phone Use by Area and Road Type
The largest proportion of car drivers observed using mobile phones at moving sites were on major roads in urban areas (1.7%). However, when combining major and minor roads to provide a proportion for all urban roads and all rural roads, the usage rate was slightly higher in rural locations (1.4%) (see Figure 4.4).
*Due to rounding the 'At-Ear' usage rate on urban roads overall was found to be 0.0% despite some recorded usage.
The opposite was true for stationary sites, where rural areas had the lowest proportion of drivers using mobile phones overall despite usage being greater on major rural routes than other road and area types (see Figure 4.5).
It is interesting to note that no drivers were recorded at stationary sites in urban areas with a phone at their ear, despite large sample sizes.
4.7 Mobile Phone Use by Time of Day
Analysis of the data recorded at moving sites found varying levels of mobile phone use over the course of the day, with higher levels evident around the morning peak, around 13:30 and from 15:30 onwards (see Figure 4.6).
*Excludes one site observation period between 07:50 and 08:20. Also note, due to rounding the 'At-Ear' usage rate at 16:30 was found to be 0.0% despite some recorded usage.
In contrast, mobile phone use at stationary sites was more stable throughout the course of the day, although there was evidence of an early morning trough (0.8% at 07:30), a substantial drop at 16:30 (to 1.1%) and an evening peak (of 3.4% at 17:30) (see Figure 4.7).
4.8 Mobile Phone Use by Time of Week
In order to allow comparison between weekdays and weekends, a selected number of sites were re-surveyed on a Saturday. Analysis of only those sites surveyed both during the week and at the weekend shows that usage rates were higher during the week at both stationary (2.3% compared to 1.5%) and moving sites (1.0% compared to 0.5%) (see Figure 4.8). This finding reflects the results of the 2009 survey of moving sites in England, suggesting that this is an on-going trend.
*Due to rounding the 'At-Ear' usage rate at stationary sites during the weekend was found to be 0.0% despite some recorded usage.