German police begin action week to catch drivers using mobile phones

Police in Germany have launched an action week aimed at catching drivers and cyclists using their mobile phones, tablets or laptops while driving or riding. Drivers and cyclists who are caught face a traffic fine of 100 euros.

Police begin Kontrollwoche looking for drivers using phones

Until October 12, police in Germany will be paying particular attention to whether drivers and cyclists are using their mobile phones, tablets or laptops while behind the wheel or riding. 

“If you look at your smartphone for just one second while driving at 50 kilometres per hour in city traffic, for example, you cover a distance of 14 meters blind,” a police spokesperson in Rheinpfalz said in a press release.

“Distraction in traffic involves serious danger and affects all road users, not just drivers,” the press release continued. The “Kontrollwoche” (Control Week) action in Germany is part of a broader European initiative organised by Netzwerk Roadpol. Police have adopted the English language campaign motto “Focus on the Road”. 

Hundreds of accidents caused by distracted drivers

According to police in Saxony-Anhalt, 120 drivers in the federal state were caught using a mobile phone, tablet or laptop while driving in 2024. Police in Rheinpfalz say 164 accidents which occurred in 2024 were due to drivers being distracted while behind the wheel.

Police, accident researchers and politicians warn that device distraction is an underestimated risk in road safety. If drivers are distracted while driving, they have significantly less time to react in a dangerous situation.

Despite device distraction, the number of fatal traffic accidents has decreased in Germany. 2.780 people died in traffic accidents in 2024, 59 fewer than in 2023. This is also the lowest annual number of fatal traffic accidents in Germany since records began in 1953. 

Only during the years of the coronavirus pandemic were the numbers of fatal traffic accidents lower. 2.719 people died in fatal traffic accidents in Germany in 2020 and 2.562 people in 2021.