Sassari, using the phone while driving: already 705 fines in 2024.

From January 1st to November 10th Local police fined 705 people for using their phones while driving. This figure marks a growth of more than 30 percent compared to the whole of 2023, when there were 457 sanctions.

On the one hand, this certifies an increase in controls, on the other hand it is an indication of a widespread violation of the highway code which unfortunately often results in accidents, even with serious consequences.

Statistical data, both those recorded on a national and local basis, demonstrate that distracted driving is the main cause of accidents. In Sassari, in 2023 the cases attributable to distraction exceeded the percentage of 91 percent compared to the total causes ascertained by the officers, and increasingly distracted driving is directly related to cell phone use. For this reason, in 2024 the local police have strengthened controls on cell phone use while driving. But not only.

The “Smartphone Zombie” campaign against the use of cell phones even while crossing the street without paying due attention continues. Eighteen sanctions were imposed in 2024, 32 in 2023.

Since January 1228st, local police officers have intervened in 606 accidents, of which XNUMX resulted in injuries; 3 fatal accidents along urban and local roads and one, detected by the Carabinieri, on state roads, which led to the death of three people.

To which we add 74 people hit. The road accidents detected by the local police of Sassari in all of 2023 were 1.330. Furthermore, in the first ten months of 2024 there was an increase in fines for all those who do not wear seat belts, a conduct – the latter - which does not represent a triggering cause of road accidents but which affects the severity of the injuries suffered by the subjects involved in the accidents: 309 sanctions in the first ten months of 2024, 145 disputes in all of 2023.

The penalties for those who use cell phones are particularly severe and with the reform of the code they will be further increased, but already today the legislator provides for fines between 165 and 660 euros, with the suspension of the driving license from one to three months, if the same individual commits a further violation within a two-year period. The offender will have five points deducted from his driving license.

The local police have further intensified road controls and strengthened campaigns information, awareness-raising and combating the conduct that causes road accidents.