Gadget overload puts lives at risk!

We are living in a wonderful time for technology, it would seem that no period of 24 hours can pass without some new, amazing, incredible microchip or processor allows us to have more entertainment or make more contact with the ones we love. Mobile phones have shrunk in size dramatically and have developed from simply being cordless phones to housing our entire music libraries, allowing us to watch films or the latest television, even telling us where nearby is good to eat! We have satellite navigation, gone are the days of trawling for hours through maps days before a long drive - planning the best route and a backup should you encounter traffic, all this is available in a tiny box that does the thinking for you! 

And that is precisely why UK roads are less safe now than they have been in recent years, according to insurer Zurich anyway. 

Their studies show that mobile phones AND satellite navigation units both rank in the top 10 risks to road users, despite it being illegal to operate a mobile phone whilst driving. Other items on the list include in-car media, such as touchscreen radios and digital TV receivers. 

Our cars are getting posher and posher, packing more and more of the technology we are used to at home - some cars even have built in Wi-Fi now!! Thankfully manufacturers are also working on making those tech-filled cars safer; with curtain airbags now standard on most new vehicles, we just have to make sure the tech-progress doesn't get the better of us and we maintain a high level of concentration on the road when driving!

Words: Andy Pilcher