Speeding is seen as the biggest cause of accidents in the UK, beating mobile phone use in a recent survey of 10,000 British drivers.

Speeding outranked smartphones to top the poll of accident causes in the UK.

Conducted by dealership group Citygate, the research saw 41% of respondents name speeding as the most dangerous habit. This was weighted towards women, at 48% of the overall responses, compared to 39% of men, showing different attitudes between the genders.

Mobile phone use came a close second, with 40% citing this as a cause of accidents, while 30% also said in-car distractions such as navigation and audio systems or other passengers were problematic.

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs was listed by 29%, while 21% blamed other road users and 10% said mechanical problems with cars were a leading cause.

Melissa Thorpe, Marketing Manager at Citygate said: “These results are revealing and insightful when it comes to understanding just how little the UK knows about road traffic accidents. In an age where we seem unable to live without our smartphones, we would have expected to see mobile phone use coming out as the top answer.”