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Swedes flout ban on texting behind the wheel

A four-month-old law banning the use of mobile phones in the car has not had much of an effect on Sweden’s motorists.

Published: 20 May 2018 16:21 CEST

Swedes flout ban on texting behind the wheel

Don't text and drive! Photo: Erik Nylander/TT

Since the much-discussed ban came into effect on February 1, more than 350 drivers have been charged with violating the law.

In nearly all of the cases in which drivers have been charged with using a handheld device while driving, they have been slapped with a 1,500 kronor (€145, $170) fine according to Sveriges Radio Ekot.

The new regulations ban drivers, if not explicitly from calling or texting, then at least from doing so while holding the phone in their hand.

“Hands on the wheel, not on the mobile,” read a government statement about the ban.

“It will be clearer now that you're not allowed to fiddle with the phone while you're out driving. A clearer rule means that more will follow it,” Infrastructure Minister Tomas Eneroth said back in December.

The high number of violations indicates that Eneroth’s prediction may have been off.

According to the latest report from the Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen), mobile phone use is behind around 100 traffic accidents each year.

There is still some uncertainty about the extent of the new law. For example, the courts have not decided whether drivers are allowed to use their phones while their vehicles are stationary.

Public prosecutor Johan Bülow said the state is working to determine whether police officers can issue fines on the spot when they catch motorists flouting the ban.

“We want to have legal certainty on this. We quite simply want to know where the courts stand on the issue,” he told Ekot.

A 2016 survey by the Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) found that 37 percent of Swedes text while driving. For those aged 18-30, the figure was 56 percent.

Another survey by vehicle testing agency Bilprovningen suggested even higher figures: seven out of ten of 2,000 respondents admitted to having read or sent a text message while behind the wheel.

EXPLAINED: When can a child sit in the front seat of a car in Switzerland?

In Switzerland, a simple rule for taking children in motor vehicles has been in place for a good two decades: Every child up to a height of 150 cm or the age of 12 must travel in a suitable child seat.

Its Austrian neighbour has even stricter rules in place. Babies and children in Austria must be correctly secured in a child’s seat up to the age of 14 if they are below 135 cm in height.

The German law takes a more relaxed approach and regulates that children from the age of 12 or those that are taller than 150 cm can ride in the vehicle without a child seat – with the appropriate seat belt, of course.

When can a child sit in the front?

According to the law in Switzerland, once a child has reached a height of 150 cm, they can sit anywhere in the car with or without a child or booster seat.

However, a child needs to reach a minimum height of 150 cm for the safety belts to guarantee their safety in a way that the neck is not constricted while driving in the event of sudden braking or an accident.

In principle, children are allowed to sit on the front passenger seat regardless of their age, however, this is not recommended by experts who argue that children are much safer in the back of the car. Furthermore, if a vehicle is equipped with airbags, rear-facing car seats may only be used if the front airbag on the passenger’s side is deactivated.

A driver at the Stelvio Pass, Santa Maria Val Müstair, Switzerland.

A driver at the Stelvio Pass, Santa Maria Val Müstair, Switzerland. Photo by Jaromír Kavan on Unsplash

Can I be fined for my child travelling without an appropriate car seat?

You can and you will. The fine for transporting an unsecured child under the age of 12 is 60 francs, which, given the risk driving without an appropriate child seat poses to your child’s life, is mild.

But what about public transport?

Though this may seem illogical to some, Switzerland does not have any safety laws dictating that car seats be used on its buses, meaning it is not uncommon to see mothers standing in the aisle of a packed bus with a baby in a sling while struggling to hold on to a pole for stability.

Though politicians did briefly discuss equipping buses with baby and child seats in 2017 to avoid potential risks to minors, nothing came of it. Ultimately, supplying buses with special seats or introducing seat belts proved unrealistic given the number of seats and considering how often people hop on and off a bus – there is a stop almost every 300 metres in Switzerland.

Instead, drivers are now better informed of the dangers posed to minors travelling on their vehicles and parents are advised to leave children in strollers and not load those with heavy shopping bags.

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