A REGION wide survey for the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and corporate partner M6toll’s Drive4Life by YouGov has found more than one in ten (13 per cent) drivers said they had sent texts, emails or had been on social media whilst driving.
The shock figure was just one of the findings from the survey of more than 1,000 adults within the area covered by the air ambulance and targeted at 35 to 44-year-olds.
When asked what actions were taken in a two month period to reduce how distracted they felt when driving, only 44 per cent said they planned their journey ahead of starting their drive, and only one in five takes regular breaks on long journeys.
Recent figures show that despite the nation going into lockdown earlier this year, demand for the local lifesaving charity did not falter.
Meanwhile road traffic collisions involving bicycles rose during March and June by 400 per cent year on year as more cyclists took to the road.
Ian Roberts, air operations manager for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “On average, the flight doctors and critical care paramedics on-board our air ambulance helicopters and critical care cars attend up to 700 road traffic collisions per year.
“The results of the survey are disappointing to read, but unfortunately it reflects the demographic of a number of people who are most likely to need our pre-hospital clinical expertise, which is the 35-50 year old bracket.”
As each air ambulance mission requires on average £2,500 of funding, road traffic collisions cost the charity up to £1.75million each year, which is entirely funded through donations from the public and local businesses.
Not making an effort to reduce distractions while behind the wheel could therefore be costing the charity thousands of pounds – as well as someone’s life.
Ian added: “Multitasking and distractions both outside and in a vehicle can mean a driver’s concentration on the road is affected, reducing their driving standard.
“This could ultimately lead to an incident – potentially with life-threatening or life changing consequences.
“We would urge all drivers to think about how they can limit the number of distractions to potentially help reduce the number of incidents that take place.”
Find out more about Midlands Air Ambulance Charity at midlandsairambulance.com.
