Cell phone speed cameras: What drivers can expect and how it works

The so-called cell phone speed camera is by no means a new invention. In some other countries, the surveillance device has already been in use for several years

Mobile phone flasher: what’s behind the surveillance device

Australia and the Netherlands are among the countries where cell phone speed cameras are already in use. Rhineland-Palatinate is leading the way.

• The test phase in 2022 in the two cities of Mainz and Trier was successful, according to official information. Accordingly, the cell phone speed cameras are to be used throughout the federal state. And it will not stop at Rhineland-Palatinate, the other federal states probably want to follow suit.

• The so-called cell phone speed camera – as the name suggests – is intended to photograph smartphones in the hands of drivers who are sitting behind the wheel of a vehicle. In short, it’s about the unauthorized use of cell phones in road traffic

• The cell phone speed cameras are based on a special camera system equipped with artificial intelligence. The AI is able to recognize whether the driver is holding a smartphone in their hand or resting on their thighs.

• In practice, this means that the monocam, as the cell phone speed camera is officially called, films from diagonally above the passing cars. Accordingly, the cell phone speed cameras are usually mounted on bridges

• The photos selected by the AI are then reviewed by the police to ensure that the drivers were actually holding a smartphone and not, for example, a bar of chocolate. Once the evidence has been clarified, this has unpleasant consequences for the driver in question.

Mobile phone speed camera: the device can have these consequences for you

If cell phone speed cameras are actually introduced nationwide, this will not only affect drivers. There will be immense costs for all taxpayers

• A single cell phone speed camera costs around 30,000 euros. Then there are the costs for the working hours of the officers who have to view the images afterwards. But that’s not all. In order for the cell phone speed cameras to be used at all, the law must first be amended. This is due to take place in 2024.

• In Germany, driver liability applies, which means that only the person who is clearly identified as the driver can be held liable. For data protection reasons, however, the cell phone speed camera does not record the driver’s face. In this case, however, the license plate is of no use at all if the person stopped claims not to have been driving at the time. Accordingly, the Police and Public Order Act must be amended so that the cell phone speed camera can be used in Germany.

• If the law is changed and you are chosen by the AI, the fun won’t come cheap either. At the moment, making a phone call at the wheel will cost you 100 euros and on top of that you’ll get a point in Flensburg