“We see that the monocam is having an impact,” says Matthias Emmerich, head of the Trier police station. He has been accompanying the project for five years. Rhineland-Palatinate is the first federal state to use high-resolution cameras to detect cell phone violations while driving.
The system initially went through a kind of trial and testing phase, and the police have been using the monocam regularly for around a year. Measurements during the test phase in 2022 showed that cell phone use fell by 70 percent during controls.
This is how cell phone surveillance works
The police officers usually place the mobile devices on motorway bridges. From there, the monocam films diagonally downwards into all passing vehicles. The camera records possible cell phone violations.
“If the monocam detects a cell phone on the ear or in the hand in the speaking function, it suggests this to us as a possible hit,” says Matthias Emmerich. The software compares the image with around 20,000 photos that show typical movements with the cell phone.
The officers then evaluate the recording and decide whether there is actually a cell phone violation. As a rule, there is a fine of 100 euros and one point in Flensburg. A fine of up to 200 euros and a one-month driving ban are possible.
Pioneering work and changing the law
Rhineland-Palatinate has now purchased five monocams for a total of 200,000 euros. However, their deployment was initially delayed because there was no legal basis and the required information signs were not delivered on time. You must draw attention to the monitoring of the cell phone ban in front of the checkpoints on the motorway.
In order to create legal certainty and enable permanent controls, Rhineland-Palatinate changed the Police and Regulatory Authorities Act last year. Since then, the monocams have been allowed to be used as a preventive police measure - provided that the checks are announced with appropriate signs.
Rhineland-Palatinate as a blueprint
This year, the police in Rhineland-Palatinate have already used monocams to detect around 1,400 cell phone violations. Interior Minister Achim Schwickert (CDU) sees this as an important instrument for greater road safety and supports a nationwide introduction. It is difficult to estimate how successful the operation has been overall so far, as no current figures are yet available.
“However, we assume that we have made people more aware of this,” says Schwickert. The long-term goal is to reduce the number of traffic deaths to zero by 2050.
Federal Transport Minister Steffen Bilger (CDU) now wants to introduce the monocams throughout Germany. Every year there are more than a thousand accidents due to distraction caused by cell phones, for example. Modern surveillance technology can significantly improve traffic safety. To this end, his ministry wants to create a uniform legal basis in the Road Traffic Act. A first draft law is planned for the beginning of 2027.
Where is the limit to disproportionate surveillance?
Experts see the use of monocams as an infringement on the fundamental right to informational self-determination and are calling for clear legal rules. There should not be full surveillance without cause, emphasizes the data protection officer for the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Dieter Kugelmann. Proportionality is crucial. Images and data of uninvolved drivers would have to be deleted immediately. Even the automated evaluation of the recordings could mean an intervention.
ARD legal expert Christoph Kehlbach also sees open legal questions. Because unlike conventional speed cameras, with the monocam all drivers are first filmed. Ultimately, the courts would have to clarify whether this is justified in the interests of road safety.
What is likely to be crucial is how long recordings are stored and what happens to the data of unsuspicious people. This involves balancing the right to privacy and the state's duty to ensure traffic safety. The Federal Constitutional Court has set clear limits for this.
Despite controls, many cell phone violations continue
Unsuspected drivers are no longer recorded and their pictures and data are immediately deleted, says Thilo Hinck from the Mainz Police Department. He and his colleagues have been using the monocam since August and are detecting an average of up to six cell phone violations per hour. Despite controls and information signs, cell phone use while driving remains a major problem.
Matthias Emmerich from the Trier police confirms that distraction is still omnipresent - with the consequences of accidents sometimes being serious.
