A new survey has revealed that up to 90 per cent of Australians admit to driving while distracted, with 30 per cent saying they would only change their poor driving habits if they were involved in an accident.
Police estimate that distracted driving causes around 200 deaths on Australian roads each year. Alarmingly, one-third of drivers surveyed by AAMI admitted they had been involved in an accident or near-miss due to being distracted.
Common distractions include texting or talking on the phone, eating while driving, or using in-car touchscreens. Nearly 40 per cent of drivers also admitted to taking their eyes off the road to look at other drivers, pedestrians, or roadside incidents such as crashes or breakdowns.
AAMI’s Mary Kennedy said Australian drivers often view their own behaviour through “rose-tinted glasses,” being more likely to blame bad driving on others than admit to their own mistakes. She noted that while 40 per cent confessed to using phones or smartwatches while driving, that figure jumped to two-thirds when reporting the behaviour of other drivers.
“This shows we tend to be biased towards our own behaviours, believing we are safer drivers compared to others,” Kennedy explained.
Many drivers also admitted they would not change their habits unless they, or someone close to them, were directly affected in a crash.
According to government data, 1,353 people have died on Australian roads in the past 12 months as of August 2025, including 118 deaths in August alone — a figure 25 per cent higher than the average for that month over the past five years.
