GSM Control: Crackdown on Phone Use While Driving

2023-10-10 12:55:00

A major police operation took place this morning to control, in particular, the use of GSM while driving.

In Hainaut, checks were carried out en masse. This is what our journalist was able to notice, who spent an hour in an unmarked vehicle in the Boraine police zone. “We were surprised at the number of drivers caught in the act. And between each arrest, no more than 5 minutes each time to find a driver, phone in hand“, indicates Julien Crête.

The excuses given are quite classic: for example, an urgent phone call to a family member. But this does not only concern cars since “a bus was also fined“, indicates our journalist. According to the Vias institute, the problem is still very present: “25% of drivers regularly use their phone while driving, causing 50 road deaths per year and more than 4,500 injuries“.

Differences depending on the region

But using the phone while driving is not penalized in the same way in all regions. “In East Flanders, it is in Hal-Vilvoorde that the sanctions are heaviest: a 15-day license withdrawal, directly. Elsewhere, the fine was raised to level 3, that is to say, 174 euros“Indeed, prosecutors have the right to choose their priority, as some do with alcohol.”This does not send a very readable message to users“, indicates Benoît Godart: “We have the impression that the Belgians are unequal when it comes to a certain level of justice. What is paradoxical is that we removed this inequality with speeding, with the creation of a national prosecutor’s office“.

More severe, more effective?

For Benoit Godart: “What works is rather the risk of being controlled or not. Not the severity of the sanctions“.

This operation continues this Tuesday followingnoon.

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