Almost 12% of drivers say they've been involved in either a near miss or a collision after being distracted by a passenger.
According to an AA survey of 5,000 motorists, 10.05% of respondents admitted to being involved in at least one near miss due to a distraction.
0.84% of respondents said they'd been involved in one collision due to a distraction, 0.34% had been involved in two, and 0.47% had been involved in three.
Out of the respondents who said they had been distracted while driving, 46.24% claimed that the passenger at fault was one or more of their children, while 22.35% said it was a spouse or partner.
Commenting on the results, Conor Faughnan - AA Director of Consumer Affairs - observed: “While the motorist must do everything they can to avoid being distracted, we would also encourage passengers to understand the dangers associated with driving and avoid doing anything which could take the driver’s attention off the road."
Speaking about the risk of a distraction from a child, he added: "Even if your eyes are off the road for just a split second you could put yourself or another road user at serious risk so our advice would always be to pull in if the child’s behaviour is distracting you and only continue your journey once everyone has calmed down."
