According to ROADPOL, the European network of traffic police, distraction remains one of the main causes of serious traffic accidents. Research shows that a driver looking at their phone for eight seconds at 90 km/h drives over 200 meters ‘blind’. Not wearing a seatbelt also remains a common cause of fatal accidents.
Discreet Monitoring
Therefore, the Traffic Police team, together with officers from Tilburg, went out early on Tuesday, October 7, in a tour bus. From a tour bus, you can see much more than from a car. This way, you can easily and discreetly look into the cabins of trucks, vans, and cars. If an offender is spotted from the bus, one of the follow cars or motorcycles is deployed to issue a fine. The fine for holding a mobile device has been 430 euros since the beginning of this year. The reason this fine is so high is the hundreds of traffic victims that fall annually in Dutch traffic.
156 Fines
Checks were conducted on the A16, A58, A59, and in the Tilburg area. In total, 156 fines were issued during these checks for the following offenses:
- 147 x holding an electronic device or phone while driving
- 1 x overtaking on the right
- 3 x speeding
- 4 x driving over a point
- 1 x unnecessary left driving.
Other Checks Across the Entire Unit
In addition to these checks, more checks were conducted throughout the entire unit last week. As a result, 323 drivers were fined for using their phone while driving. Thats nearly 50 fines per day!
Tips to Avoid Distraction
- Put your phone in your bag. Or at least somewhere you cant easily reach it.
- Turn off your notifications. Or set your phone to ‘do not disturb’. And set this automatically while driving or at fixed times in your calendar. There are also apps that can help.
- Use hands-free solutions if you want to call or use your phone for navigation.
