smartphone on your lap while driving is allowed

A motorist who was fined 240 euros for driving with a telephone on his lap, does not have to pay the fine from the judge. The case went on appeal.

Smartphone on your lap is allowed

We would all like to see further improvements in road safety. For that reason, there are different laws and regulations. One of these is that you are not allowed to hold your smartphone in traffic. A motorist from Drachten was recently fined 240 euros for using a smartphone in traffic. However, there is now a line through this fine.

The motorist had lodged an appeal because the motorist was of the opinion that the phone was on his lap while driving. In an earlier decision, the subdistrict court ruled that having a telephone on your lap also falls under holding a telephone. The driver disagreed and filed an appeal. The Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal has handled the case and ruled that the motorist does not have to pay the fine of 240 euros, and that the driver has been found in the right. The explanation is; “Having a mobile phone on your lap or leg cannot be regarded as holding it.”

Cell phones are a major source of distraction in traffic. Despite stricter enforcement, the chance of being caught is still relatively small. Yet in the Netherlands we use the telephone ‘massively’ in traffic. Previous research showed that almost 75 percent of Dutch people aged 25-34 sometimes use the telephone while driving. The police are increasingly working with smart cameras that can register whether someone is using a phone while driving.