Tackling mobile phone driving violations

Smartphones have become integral to daily life, but their use while driving demands stronger enforcement to curb this dangerous practice

Author: Vitronic

Talking, texting and surfing the internet on a mobile phone while driving is one of the most serious distractions at the wheel, as reflected in the consequences. In 2023 alone, 977 people in Germany were injured in road accidents in which the driver was distracted by an electronic device, 197 of them were severely injured and 20 were even killed. In 2022, as many as 3,308 people in the USA died in car crashes caused by drivers using their mobile phones. 

The reason for the disastrous figures is that when using a mobile phone at the wheel, the driver’s attention is absolutely tied up, which is extremely dangerous even for short periods in a moving vehicle. According to the German Road Safety Council, a driver who briefly reads or types a message for about two seconds can travel up to 28 meters without looking at the road at 50 km/h and up to 55 meters at 100 km/h. Furthermore, the British Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) states that drivers using mobile phones are four times more likely to be involved in a crash.
 

Growing enforcement challenges

This serious driver distraction needs to be addressed, but there are two major challenges. One is the widespread social acceptance of mobile phone use while driving. Recent statistics show, for example, that one-quarter of all drivers admit to making or taking voice calls while driving, with that number rising to 49% among young drivers aged 17 to 24. Currently, using a mobile phone while driving is seen by the public as inappropriate behavior rather than a dangerous and illegal act which points to the second challenge associated with this one. “A major contributor for this ‘distorted’ view of the public and the lack of compliance when it comes to legislation against mobile phone use while driving is that enforcement is insufficient – which means there is no deterrent effect,” says Simon Griffiths, solution manager for traffic technology at Vitronic.

Is automation the answer?

Effective enforcement is therefore clearly the key to solving the problem of distraction by mobile phones. This begs the question, why hasn’t it been done so far? And the answer is that it is very demanding and hardly feasible in the traditional way, by police officers for example. This would require an enormous amount of manpower and incur huge costs. A different approach to efficient and streamlined enforcement is needed, one that works independently of staff fluctuations and perhaps even reduces the workload. 

The solution is advanced technology

The solution to this modern challenge is the application of machine vision, as Griffiths explains. “By integrating advanced cameras capable of capturing even small details at high speeds with AI-based analysis software trained to detect mobile phones in the driver’s hands, we can provide effective automated enforcement. Also, the technology can identify whether passengers are wearing their seat belts, which is another feature that promotes traffic safety and compliance.”   

These sophisticated systems may sound like a vision of the future, but they can already be seamlessly integrated into existing transport infrastructure or utilized in mobile applications. They have the ability to cover two lanes simultaneously, can be operated continuously day and night, and provide high-resolution images of detected violations as evidence, thus improving accuracy and reliability.

This article is avaliable to read in the Intertraffic World magazine 2025.