An increasing number of motorists are becoming involved in accidents caused by social networking while driving, it has been found.
Research carried out by Swinton indicates that there has been a 12 per cent rise in
car insurance claims which implicate the use of sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
The
car insurance firm is strongly advising drivers to turn off any electronic device before making any journey, pointing out that such distractions can cause a potentially serious accident.
Motorists currently risk a £60 and three points on their license for using a hand-held mobile phone while behind the wheel, with the availability of social networking sites increasing such convictions.
Commenting on the findings, Steve Chelton from Swinton
car insurance said: "As technology advances, we are seeing more and more drivers using smart phones and other devices while behind the wheel - and this is leading to more accidents on our roads."
He stressed that drivers should avoid reading and writing messages even in slow moving traffic, labelling them a "major distraction".
According to a recent study conducted by Halfords, around one in twenty drivers admitted to reading messages on sites such as Twitter and Facebook while on the road.
