In Rhineland-Palatinate, a system is to be introduced with the Monocam that automatically detects when a driver uses a mobile device while driving. The system had been successfully tested, said the country’s interior minister, Michael Ebeling, on Monday. With the next amendment of the police law, a legal basis is to be created through which the monocam can be used permanently. “Of course, we will also take data protection issues into account,” said the minister.
The camera plus image analysis was used nationwide for the first time in Rhineland-Palatinate last year, on a test basis in the Trier police headquarters and then in the Mainz police headquarters for a total of six months. The system, which was largely developed by the Dutch police and has been in use by them since early July 2021, automatically takes recordings when it thinks it detects an infraction in a passing car. Trained police officers evaluate the recordings.
In the first test phase from June to August 2022 on the Autobahn 602 between the Kenn and Trier-Ehrang junctions, 327 violations were found on a total of 46 control days, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior announced. In the second phase from September to November 2022 on the Autobahn 60 in front of the Mainz-Finthen junction, the police registered 941 distraction violations on 42 control days. All were sent to the central fine office in Speyer. Such violations are punished with a fine of 100 euros and a point in Flensburg.
preventive effect
The interior ministry explained to heise online that drivers had been informed of the monitoring by signs. Comparative measurements before, during and after the test phase showed that the number of distraction violations in the test phases in Trier and Mainz was at least halved. “The pilot project proves that the monocam has a preventive effect and is suitable for increasing road safety in Rhineland-Palatinate. That’s why we want to be the first federal state to introduce the monocam,” said Interior Minister Michael Ebling.
The Monocam works in a similar way to existing distance and speed monitoring systems and monitors the flow of traffic from an elevated position. Software equipped with AI monitors mobile phones in the driver’s area and the appropriate hand position for telephoning or other activities on the device. If both criteria are met, the camera triggers.
The data protection supervisory authority in the Netherlands has approved the system and it is used nationwide there. Faces of possible fellow passengers are automatically made unrecognizable, only the potential perpetrator is shown in the photo. Police officers review camera images on a laptop; as soon as they have been forwarded to the competent authority CJIB, the photos on the laptop will be deleted. According to the CJIB, around 47,500 people were caught using their cell phones in traffic in 2021, 16,000 of them cyclists. By November 2022, a good 66,000 such violations had been identified, 21,000 of them by cyclists.
(anw)