Examination of the Relationship Between Smartphone Dependency and Driving Behaviour in Young Drivers: Preliminary Analysis

The smartphone has emerged as one of the important necessities in our daily lives. However, smartphone dependency can have negative as well as positive impacts on our overall well-being. Young adults are likely to demonstrate particularly problematic dependency on smartphone use. This is also the age group with a disproportionate contribution to road deaths in Australia (approximately 25% for 17-25 year olds), for reasons such as lack of experience and road awareness, resulting in bad choices or poor assessment of a road situation. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between smartphone dependency and driving behaviour in young people provided with the basic (control group) and extended (intervention group) features of an in-car telematics device. Participants aged between 18-30 were invited to complete the self-reported questionnaires, and an in-car telematics device with basic features was then activated over a 30-day period in their vehicles. At the start of the second 30-day period, half of the participants had their telematics installation extended. A linear mixed model analysis was conducted to allow for the hierarchical structure of the telematics data, with trips nested within drivers. The results suggest that in-car telematics devices can be adopted to improve the driving behaviour of young drivers.