{"id":445895,"date":"2026-05-17T07:19:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T07:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/445895\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T07:19:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T07:19:21","slug":"young-drivers-phone-addiction-behind-wheel-reaches-new-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/445895\/","title":{"rendered":"Young drivers\u2019 phone addiction behind wheel reaches new high"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every Australian knows using a phone while driving is dangerous, yet millions still do it every day.<\/p>\n

Findings from the new NRSW 2026 Australian Driving Behaviour Report have revealed just how widespread the problem has become, particularly among younger drivers.<\/p>\n

The report found 50 per cent of Gen Z drivers admit to taking photos or videos while driving, while 40 per cent of Millennials confessed to doing the same.<\/p>\n

MORE: China\u2019s huge Aus move no one saw coming<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Swimming<\/p>\n

Almost two-thirds of Gen Z (63 per cent) drivers and more than half of Millennials (52 per cent) also admitted to reading texts while stopped at red lights.<\/p>\n

But the problem may be down to people\u2019s attention spans.<\/p>\n

MORE: Why big budget omissions should worry Aus<\/a><\/p>\n

As widely reported, research has shown that people\u2019s attention span, particularly among young people, has shrunk in measurable ways. <\/p>\n

Short-form content platforms like TikTok and Instagram, as well as high screen time, have been linked to reduced patience. <\/p>\n

The Australian Driving Behaviour Report\u00a0revealed drivers were quick to reach for their phones once a notification popped up. <\/p>\n

The report found 30 per cent of Gen Z drivers and 28 per cent of Millennials check their phone within minutes of receiving a notification while behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

And it is not just texting and snapping photos becoming a problem.<\/p>\n

Scrolling social media and watching YouTube videos while driving is becoming an increasingly common sight.<\/p>\n

While 92 per cent of surveyed motorists agree the habit is dangerous, frustrated drivers report regularly witnessing other road users glued to their screens.<\/p>\n

One Reddit post <\/a>captured a driver mindlessly scrolling through Instagram while stopped at a traffic light, sparking a wave of online outrage over the dangerous habit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see this at least once or twice a week on my motorbike, because I can see into all the cars I split past. I\u2019ve followed someone watching TikToks, he was still scrolling when I turned the other way,\u201d a Reddit user wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the people we share the road with, and it\u2019s scary as f***,\u201d another added.<\/p>\n

Another described seeing a woman scrolling through videos in heavy highway traffic while her two toddlers sat in the back seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had the phone on the area behind her steering wheel flicking through reels. I beeped at her. Even my kids were horrified!\u201d the user wrote.<\/p>\n

MORE: Our Elon: Musk proves his Aussie street cred<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s out of control with the distracted driving,\u201d another driver commented.<\/p>\n

Others claimed drivers were exploiting loopholes by mounting phones in cradles, making it nearly impossible for phone detection cameras to detect.<\/p>\n

Olympian Ariarne Titmus recently shared a disturbing video of her Uber driver watching Instagram reels on his phone while still driving the car.<\/p>\n

MASSIVE FINES<\/p>\n

But if a driver is caught using a phone while driving, the consequences are severe. <\/p>\n

Fines range from $410 to more than $1,000, and drivers can also lose up to 10 demerit points, depending on the state.<\/p>\n

National Road Safety Week founder Peter Frazer OAM said the research showed awareness campaigns alone were failing to change behaviour among younger motorists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey believe phone use is dangerous, but they continue to do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelf-regulation is clearly not enough. And people agree.<\/p>\n

\u201cDistraction costs lives, and our only job at the wheel is to actively protect everyone on the road ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a choice we can all make, because everyone has a right to get home safe, every day, with no exceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every Australian knows using a phone while driving is dangerous, yet millions still do it every day. Findings…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-445895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}