Motorists are being urged to switch off their mobile phones before getting behind the wheel – or to leave them out of reach in the car boot – during Road Safety Week.

Organisers of the week, which began on Monday, are also encouraging employers to ask their staff not to use hands free devices while driving.

It comes almost a decade after hand held mobile use was banned at the wheel. Police are said to be increasing their enforcement this week of motorists who use phones while driving.

Chief Constable Suzette Davenport, who takes a national lead on roads policing, said: "As technology has advanced, we have seen a change in the behaviour of some drivers who are allowing themselves to become distracted and putting themselves and others at risk. Too many collisions are caused each year by those who are distracted at the wheel."

Distraction expert Dr Amy Guo from Newcastle University has produced a paper to coincide with Road Safety Week which suggests that talking on a hands free mobile phone is just as risky as a holding the phone in your hand, because it is the concentration of a conversation which is distracting for drivers.

"Driving should require 100% concentration, but motorists cannot concentrate on the road if they are trying to make decisions or process complicated information," she said.

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