Using the phone behind the wheel of a car remains a major problem. This was remarkably more often observed in 2020 than in the years before. Recently, more checks have been made with smart cameras.
In 2020, more than 40 percent more fines were issued for telephone use at the wheel than the year before. In two years, it has even more than doubled. In total, more than 168,000 fines were handed out to drivers calling and calling. That is an average of 459 fines per day. It raised a total of € 32.4 million for the treasury. This is evident from an analysis of CJIB figures by LocalFocus.
In 2019, more than 121,000 fines were issued for drivers with a telephone in their hand. In 2018 ‘only’ about 80,000. So it is rising fast. Since November last year, cameras have also been used to check for calls and text messages in traffic, but over the whole year, according to the CJIB, the majority of the fines were still imposed by officers who discovered the violation themselves. In more than three-quarters of the municipalities, the number of drivers caught using a tablet, telephone or laptop while driving increased. Almost one in three fines for applet drivers was handed out to cyclists last year. In total, this concerns almost 48,000 fines.
Look here for an overview of the number of fines issued per municipality.