Slovenia cracks down on using mobile phone while driving

LJUBLJANA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Slovenian police and the Traffic Safety Agency on Monday launched a national campaign to curb the dangerous practice of using a mobile phone while driving.

The campaign will go on for a fortnight, aiming at cracking down on using a mobile phone while driving, as the practice diminishes drivers' attention and can lead to tragic events, even hand-free units divert the driver's attention from the road.

Ivan Kapun, head of the traffic department at the General Police Administration, said the number of people caught using a mobile phone while driving doubled to nearly 30,000 from 2016 to 2017.

In addition to the campaign, the Traffic Safety Agency wants to fight the practice by changing legislation to increase fines for offenders from the current 120 euros (147 U.S. dollars) to the proposed 250 euros plus three penalty points.

According to Slovenian law, it takes two years for collecting points to be erased. However, if a driver has a driving license for less than two years, the limit to lose the license is only 7 points. Enditem