Admit it. You have sneakily sent a quick text while driving, haven’t you? If you genuinely have not, then congratulations on being a safe driver. If you have, then hazard a guess at how much more likely that text increased your accident chances. Twice as likely? Three times more likely to crash. No try twenty three times more likely to crash.

That is the finding of research by America's Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. It says that when travelling at speed a motorist may take his eye of the road for five seconds, enough time to cover the length of a football pitch.

The report concluded that while talking on a phone does increase accident risk it is taking your eyes off the road to text or dial, which is an even bigger danger.