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There have been over 21,000 fines handed out since the Netherlands banned texting while cyclingAmsterdam Bicycles (Jorge Royan, Wikimedia Commons)

There have been over 21,000 fines handed out since the Netherlands banned texting while cycling

Law was introduced last year because safety campaigns weren’t working
by Alex Bowden
Sat, Feb 15, 2020 14:29
2

Over 21,000 fines have been issued to people for using their mobile phones while cycling since a new law was introduced in the Netherlands in July last year. The offence is punishable by a fine of €95 plus costs.

The Netherlands first proposed banning the use of mobile phones while cycling in 2016. Transport minister Melanie Schultz argued at the time that public safety campaigns alone had had insufficient impact on behaviour.

According to a spokesperson for the minister, one in three 12-21 year olds had been using their phones while cycling and the practice was said to have played a part in 20 per cent of accidents involving under-25s.

The Hague bus and tram company HTM also said that its drivers had to take evasive action at least 40 times a day because of cyclists who were busy on their phones.

The ban came into force in July 2019 and iamexpat.nl reports that over 21,000 fines were handed out before the end of the year.

9,200 cyclists were fined between July and October with another 12,000 fined in the last three months due to increased police surveillance.

Needless to say, it is also illegal for motorists to use their phones while driving. The number of fines issued for this increased last year from more than 80,000 to 100,000.

For comparison, Home Office data from 2016 revealed that 16,861 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) were issued by police forces in England and Wales to motorists guilty of using a mobile phone at the wheel in 2015. This represented a significant drop from the 166,800 fines handed out for the offence in 2006.

This is despite the fact England and Wales has a combined population around three-and-a-half times larger than the Netherlands.

Netherlands
Mobile phones
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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2 comments

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cycle.london | 4 years ago
1 like

As of the second half of last year, that selfish fucknugget 'Baretto' has made it OK for car drivers to use mobile telephones, as long as they can claim 'I was just holding it!' or 'I was filming with it!' (and it's quite difficult to disprove). 

'Using a hand-held mobile telephone or device for the purposes of s 41D of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and reg 110 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, SI 1986/1078, was restricted only to the use of an interactive communication function. Accordingly, the Divisional Court held that the Crown Court had been correct to conclude that the respondent's conduct, in filming an accident scene as he drove past it using the camera on his mobile phone, had not amounted to 'using' a hand-held mobile telephone or device for the purposes of s 41D and reg 110'
(from Lexis Law Library)

The Met told me just afterwards that they had been instructed not to prosecute for mobile phone use, unless it was crystal clear that the driver was actually 'interacting' with it.

Avatar
eburtthebike | 4 years ago
5 likes

Can't disagree with fining cyclists texting, but there is something seriously wrong with the UK figures for texting drivers, a mere 10% of what it was ten years before, as the evidence of my own eyes tells me that it is probably more prevalent now.

Never mind, I suppose when the tories flood of 20,000 police officers, only a 1,000 fewer than the number they've cut over the past ten years, hits the streets, the numbers of dangerous texting drivers fined might just start to reflect reality.

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