A group of road charities and organisations has written to Android, Microsoft and the GSMA (Groupe Spéciale Mobile Association), urging them to include an ‘opt out’ driving mode as standard across mobile handsets.

The letter comes ahead of Apple’s expected release this week of its iOS 11 system update, which will include a ‘Do Not Disturb While Driving’ mode that detects when someone is driving and turns off calls, text messages and notifications.

Brake and the RAC’s Be Phone Smart campaign, together with Brighton and Hove City Council, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety, RED Driving School, Road Safety GB and RoadPeace have applauded the new iPhone feature as it can automatically prevent dangerous mobile phone distractions occurring in the first place.

The group says the illegal use of handheld mobile phones at the wheel is now at “epidemic proportions”, with an estimated 11 million UK motorists admitting to making or receiving a call while driving, and a shocking five million saying they have taken photos or videos while at the wheel of a moving vehicle.

Brake Director of Campaigns, Jason Wakeford, said: “The illegal use of handheld mobile phones when driving is a growing menace and a major threat to road safety. Research shows that using a phone at the wheel affects reaction times as much as drink driving, increasing the chances of a crash.” The RAC’s ‘Be Phone Smart’ spokesman Pete Williams added that “Illegal handheld phone use is one of the biggest in-car problems of our time and it will take a concerted effort to get the message across to drivers that it’s simply not okay.”

The coalition points out that “no call, text or social media update is worth risking a life” and that the mobile phone industry has “a major part to play in reducing the distraction caused by phones in the car”, reducing deaths and serious injuries across the globe.