Read This Before You Drive on Facebook Live

Facebook Live is an incredible tool for growing your social media reach, but is it ok to Facebook Live when driving?

You’ve probably seen people doing it on your newsfeed.

I know I see Facebook Live videos with people in the car show up on my feed almost daily, but should we be engaging with these live broadcasts?

Let me cut to the chase. Here in the UK it is illegal to touch a mobile phone whilst driving, meaning that many of the people I see going Live on Facebook whilst driving may be incriminating themselves.

Mobile use when driving

A recent study by More Th>N revealed how one in five motorists admitted to using their smartphone whilst behind the wheel.

It revealed that on average 1,964,953 Snapchat, Instagram pictures and WhatsApp messages, 576,967 emails, 229,553 tweets and 508,975 Facebook posts are sent from the behind the wheel each week.

Whilst using a phone hands-free is allowed, you are forbidden from touching, picking up or moving the device at any time.

Prof Nick Reed from the Transport Research Laboratory told the BBC that reaction times of people using their mobile phones when driving are “worse than being at the legal limit for alcohol”.

Don’t Drive on Facebook Live

In July 2017, Nikol Barabasova livestreamed her own death when a car she was traveling in crashed into a barrier.

The video shows the 22-year-old giggling as she begins a Facebook Live stream, but it ended with tragic consequences and the noise of the windscreen wipers which switched on in the crash.

The Department for Transport advice on streaming and driving is this: “The message is clear – keep your eyes on the road, not on your phone, or you could end up being banned from the road.”

How to broadcast from the car

I’ve broadcast live from the car many times, but only when someone else is driving or when I’m safely parked.

In my opinion, anything that is borderline illegal, including driving and living, is bad for your brand image. It could also result in you being banned from driving or something far more tragic.