MOBILE phones may sometimes lead to potentially dangerous use behind the wheel, but they are still a boon to most women drivers.

According to a recent survey by Autonational Rescue, the majority of women - 76 per cent - said it’s their mobile phone which makes them feel safer when driving in the dark.

But 39 per cent of women motorists like to see well-lit streets and car parks and a third also believe that more police out there on the beat (or in patrol cars) would also make them feel even safer at night.

Elsewhere in the research, women motorists said that men using mobile phones on the move is the thing they most dislike about men’s driving habits.

The survey, of 1,000 people, was carried out by RSGB Omnibus at 65 random locations across the UK.

Autonational Rescue can be contacted on 07000 999 911 or visit the website, www.breakdown.info.

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DRIVERS leave 35,000 tonnes of tyre rubber on roads across the Thames Valley and South East each year through fast cornering, late breaking and poor tyre maintenance, says the AA.

The region’s motorists get through 20 million tyres annually, leaving enough rubber to cover a 150-mile route - equivalent to the journey from Oxford to Dover - with an inch think layer. Yet it takes a film of rubber just a fraction of a milimetre deep to turn a dry road moistened by rain into a skid pan.

Lack of tyre care means drivers can throw safety out of the window when they corner at speed or slam on the brakes because:

n Increasing cornering speed by 10 per cent raises tyre wear rate by 50 per cent.

n On a good but wet road surface, braking grip at 60 mph from a tyre with 2mm of tread depth will be half that of a new tyre.

n A tyre at threequarters its correct pressure will have its life cut by 40 per cent.

David Wallace, director, AA Services Centre, said: “Half a ton of expensive metal and up to five human beings are held on the road by four lumps of rubber. Yet thousands of drivers pay little attention to their tyres, with one in four motorists driving on worn ones.”