New research has shown that using a hands-free phone while driving can dramatically impair driving performance.

Some 97.5 per cent of the drivers tested by the University of Utah were worse at driving when using a mobile phone.

Motorists using hands-free phones took 20 per cent longer to apply the brakes when needed and following distances increased by 30 per cent as drivers could not maintain the pace with other simulated traffic in the test.

Ellen Booth, campaigns officer for Brake, a UK road safety charity, that provides support for road crash victims and carers, said that the evidence overwhelmingly proved that using a phone while driving was dangerous.

She said it was important for politicians to begin to take notice and ban any sort of mobile phone use by drivers.

To drive in a safe manner, motorists must pay full attention to the road, she said, the only safe way to check a phone is to pull over in a sensible place first.

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