08.06.2022, 13:45 | from Editorial team CHIP/DPA
Created with agency material
Anyone who picks up their smartphone while driving is liable to prosecution. As part of the “Mobile Phone Monitoring” pilot project, drivers in Germany are to be photographed using innovative software as soon as they pick up their cell phones at the wheel.
Making a call, reading an SMS – or looking for something quickly on the internet: the use of smartphones and tablets while driving is considered a major cause of accidents. But this can only rarely be proven. A pilot project in Germany aims to change that. It started on June 1 in the Trier area under the leadership of the police. “The goal is Vision Zero: zero road deaths by 2050,” said the Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (SPD) at the presentation.
Traffic camera monitors mobile phone use while driving
The Monocam system, developed in the Netherlands, recognizes in a live stream when a car or truck driver grabs a smartphone or tablet and then automatically takes a photo. The images are then evaluated by trained police officers on a computer connected to the camera, because not all images are unambiguous. Anyone who is convicted of driving with a mobile phone has to pay a fine of 100 euros and a point in the driving aptitude register in Flensburg.
Despite notification, multiple violations
The police headquarters in Trier used the camera for three months. After that, it’s Mainz’s turn for the same amount of time. A first test in heavy traffic on Autobahn 60 near Mainz showed around 20 violations per hour – although a large sign pointed to the control. “Monitoring mobile phone ban” and the pictogram of a camera can be seen on it. This sign was agreed with the data protection officer and also draws the attention of drivers in the Trier area to the controls.
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