AS many as eight per cent of drivers are using smartphones at the wheel and some are even announcing it proudly on Twitter, says road safety charity the IAM.

Its research shows that using smartphones for social networking while driving is more dangerous than drink driving or being high on cannabis.

Despite the dangers, eight per cent of drivers – equivalent to 3.5 million licence holders – admit to using smartphones for e-mail and social networking while driving.

Twenty-four per cent of 17-24 year old drivers – a group already at higher risk of being in a crash – admitted to using smartphones for e-mail and social networking while driving in an RAC survey last year.

The IAM has released a list of six of the worse dangerous driving tweets:

@bellyki Here lies Isobel. She perished while simultaneously eating a whole packet of Percy Pigs, driving down the M3 and tweeting about it.

@sacksy1 If I’m ever in an accident while driving and tweeting and you’re the first person to arrive on the scene, grab my phone and press “Send.”

@GSpace7 Multi-tasking: Driving, Tweeting & Brushing my hair. I do it. If I die remember me like John Lennon.

@A_Ishaq who said guys can’t multi-task..tweeting,@ watching match n driving wow lol

@tchudson Im driving, tweeting, smoking, talking and listening to @BBCR1 Ill listen to it via the #beats when I stop breaking the law. Safe!

@Beckstah You wouldn’t think I was actually driving on the motorway the amount I’ve been tweeting. Better concentrate on the road. Good day, twitter

Simon Best, IAM chief executive, said: “That someone should risk their life on the motorway to announce to the world that they are eating Percy Pigs is simply staggering.

“The government must take the lead and make sure that motorists understand the dangers of using smartphones. Phone manufacturers and social network operators can also help reinforce the safety message.”