Owners of 4×4 vehicles, already loathed or derided by environmentalists for their contribution to global warming, now face battle on a second front: road safety. A study published online on Friday by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found that British drivers of 4x4s, also known as sport utility vehicles (SUVs), are four times likelier to use their mobile phones while at the wheel compared with other drivers.

The research was carried out at three busy sites in London, with spotters looking at the drivers of 2,944 four-wheel-drive vehicles and 38,182 normal cars.

The exercise was carried out in two phases — one within a “grace period” before a new law was introduced in Britain to punish use of a mobile phone while driving, and the other a week after the grace period ended and penalties started to be imposed.

A total of 8.2 percent of the 4×4 drivers were seen using mobile phones while at the wheel, compared with two percent among the other drivers. There was no difference in the drivers’ behaviour before or after the grace period.

The 4×4 drivers were also likelier to ignore laws requiring them to wear a seat belt. Nearly 20 percent of 4×4 drivers did not buckle up, compared with 15 percent in other cars.

The paper is authored by researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Queensland in Australia.

Previous studies have established a link between reckless driving and the feeling of safety: for instance, when seatbelt laws were introduced, many drivers drove faster.

The authors speculate that this could be what causes negligence among 4×4 drivers, as owners of these vehicles often say they like the sense of safety, thanks to having a higher seat and to being buttressed by steel.

Four-wheel-drive vehicles are indeed safer in a crash, although the safety applies only to their occupants.

Drivers of small cars, cyclists and pedestrians suffer a disproportionately higher rate of death and serious injury when in collision with a 4×4 because of the larger mass of the other vehicle and its design.

In the case of pedestrians, the risk of a fatality involving an SUV is nearly twice that of other cars.

Source: Agence France-Presse