Professional driver caught using mobile phone – refused to accept fine – NRK Nordland

Fines for using a mobile phone in cars have doubled in just over a year.

As of March 1, you risk a fine of NOK 7,450 if you are caught.

In the first month after the increase, the police fined 1,092 drivers for using a mobile phone.

This is 500 less than the same month last year.

According to the police, he used a charging device

The man in his early thirties interviewed by NRK wants to remain anonymous.

He was driving on a European road in western Norway when he suddenly saw a civilian police car with blue lights behind him.

– I stopped and was told I was in control. They said they saw me using a mobile phone.

But he himself was sure of his case.

– I said it might be impossible to vote. I explained that the phone was in the phone holder while I was listening to the podcast.

– Then he said they saw me from the police.

The man thinks the police must have seen him carrying a charger for a Bluetooth headset. But the police refused.

– The charging unit has a small light that they may have seen. But he claims that the police were not interested in seeing her or the mobile phone holder in the car.

Refused to accept the simplified fine

Since the guy had points before, the number of points on his driver’s license exceeded the limit that was set. He was immediately denied testimony.

– I did not accept the fine, because I was sure that they saw the error.

Without a degree, the guy lost his job as a professional driver.

– They could not document my mobile phone use, so I think the consequences against me were too great.

The Transportation and Logistics Association, where the man was an organizer, took over the case.

In the end, the police dropped the case on the basis of evidence rather than taking it to court. I got the certificate back, but not the job, he says.

The police themselves said they refuse to impose heavy fines.

– et The problem they didn’t document

Together with the association, he also decided to file a compensation claim for the weeks he spent without testimony.

What do you think about the fact that mobile phone use has become so serious?

– I respect that, but a bit of a problem is that they couldn’t document my phone usage.

I think they should have a system that is really capable of providing evidence that people are using cell phones. I don’t think it’s enough for the cops to think they did it he sat The.

It is difficult to detect it to the police

Mobile phone use while driving is prohibited. For a long time, the fine for this was 1,700 kroner. On January 1, 2021, it increased to 5,000 NOK.

In addition, you get three points on a driver’s license.

Using a mobile phone in a car is now equivalent to driving at a red light, in violation of the duty to give way and at a very short distance from the person in front of you. This is one of the most dangerous things you can do when it comes to fines.

– We’re having trouble understanding that illegal phone use should equate to the most serious crime in traffic when it comes to fees, says Svein Furøy of the Transport and Logistics Association.

The association believes that it is difficult to detect the use of cell phones by the police.

Police are having problems detecting illegal phone use. The police themselves say that such cases are difficult, which was confirmed by a number of cases in which people were wrongly arrested for using the illegal phone, she says

One can easily sue against the state of the claim and there is rarely evidence in these cases, according to Furøy.

– It also turns out that the police sometimes make mistakes and we have reason to believe that the margin of error is much higher in cases related to mobile phones while driving than in cases related to, for example, speeding violations.

UP MANAGERS: – Notes are a guide

For UP director Knut Smedsrud, the hope was that more people would comply with the rules and not use a mobile phone in the car. Thus, he hopes that the preventive effect will reduce the number of traffic accidents.

Is it enough that the policemen think they saw the use of a mobile phone to fine him?

– Observation is basically the way we perform scans. Police notes as evidence are counted in the same way as is often the case.

– The guidelines state that police officers must be secure in their information, so we must assume that they are.

Also, speeding offenses It can be determined on the basis of observation, but this is probably the exception, explains Smedsrud.

– Driving at a red light or a short distance from the person in front is probably the most common.

Just pick up the phone

However, he notes, it is common practice to check messages and phone logs if a driver denies using a mobile phone.

– But it is enough to raise the phone and press it until it lights up. In this case, the mobile phone was used in accordance with the case law of the Supreme Court.

People who are stopped for using a mobile phone in the car can refuse and not accept the fine. Then the UP chief indicates that it is up to the courts.

UP President Knut Smedsrud believes it is too early to say that the lower number of fines in March of this year means the higher rates are working as intended.

We have to look at this over a longer period of time before we can determine whether or not this is a trend.