Speaking at the Giffoni Film Festival, Barbara Barra said the phenomenon of Italians taking pictures of themselves with their mobile phones while driving has become a major cause of accidents.

Barra was speaking ahead of the showing of a short film, called ‘Selfie’, and made with the help of traffic police in Brescia.

“Certainly not just selfies cause accidents, but we are recording an increase due to this phenomenon that is more than a little alarming,” Barra was quoted by Ansa as saying.

“We have to sensitize young people and educate them about road safety.”

Even though Italy’s roads are safer than they used to be – fatalities have dropped 23 percent since 2010, according to figures released by the European Commission in March – the road death rate is still higher than the EU average.

And Italians are well known across Europe for their reckless driving habits, with 38 percent out of 10,000 Europeans surveyed earlier this year describing them as dangerous drivers.

Read more: Why are Italians such crazy drivers?