Do you know that? The ride to the house of your best friends takes longer than expected because of the traffic, and you just want to let her know… or your mobile phone is ringing, while you are driving and it could be something important… You do not get along with the directions, so you call someone to guide you via mobile phone… In these moments your handsfree device is often either at home or still in the shop, since you did not buy one as you normally do not talk on the phone in the car anyway.

From April 2004 on, Germans talking on the phone in the car without handsfree device will not only be sanctioned with a fine of 30 Euros; the fine has been increased by 10 Euros, and in addition, you get one point in the Central Register of Traffic Offenders. The fact that talking on the phone in the car can distract is clear to everyone of us and has even been researched: A driver talking on the phone manages a car worse than a driver with 0.8 per mill blood alcohol level.

However, you are not only sanctioned when talking on the phone: You just have to hold the mobile phone in your hands, e.g. in order to find out what time it is, or to read a text message. The driver of an articulated lorry was sentenced to pay a fine of 100 Euros, because he was looking up a telephone number in his private mobile phone. He wanted to call the number with his business mobile that possessed a handsfree device. The judges, nevertheless, were of the opinion that even just holding a mobile phone in your hand is clearly a traffic hazard. One can argue if law is not too strict at this point: Is it more dangerous to have a glance at your mobile or to hold it in your hand for a short period of time than eating, drinking or changing a CD in the car? Perhaps it should also be forbidden to take children along in the car. After all, they could distract the driver.

The final judgement ist not very just in this concern: If the driver had had a look at a note in order to read the number, he probably would not have been sanctioned. My personal opinion is that distraction cannot be avoided completely. Often the mobile phone is not the source of distraction, even though you are only sanctioned if that is the case. Why am I sanctioned if I am completely lost and need someone to guide me via mobile phone, while others host picnics in the car, and raid unabashedly the picnic basket while driving without having to pay a fine…?

Undisputed, however, is that whatever activity one performs while driving, it will always distract. What is left to say is that with regard to your own security and the security of others, one should minimize the use of the mobile phone in the car. This applies to all other possible activities in the car apart from driving, e.g. rummaging around in the glove compartment. Who is not convinced by the security argument in connection with mobile phones and driving should just think of the fines and the points in the Central Register of Traffic Offenders. This does not only apply to Germany, but to nearly all European countries. In Greece, for example, you are sanctioned with a fine of up to 150 Euros for a short conversation on the mobile phone.

Cyclists as well are not spared in Germany: They risk a fine of 25 Euros, when caught. However, they are not sanctioned with points for phone conversations on the bike. Some people, however, wonder how keeping the balance and talking on the phone at the same time works. Statistics show that in Austria one out of three talk on the phone while riding, and every other cyclist reads text messages right away on the phone. Thus, the stunt is obviously possible.