France is the first country in the world to ban its use smartphonein the car and completely changed the definition of driving a car to achieve this. More precisely, now in France it is considered that a car is being driven EVEN IF it is parked on the side of the road and the engine is off, which is simply stupidity.
France took this measure because of the very high number of road accidents caused by the use of a smartphone at the wheel, but everything is idiocy. Practically, now it is considered as a car in circulation even if it is stationary on the side of the road with the engine off, it being considered stopped only when it is parked in a specially arranged place, and the driver got out of it.
The only situations in which the use of the smartphone in the car is allowed are those in which the driver has been involved in an accident, or the car has a technical fault. Basically, now drivers can't even use navigation applications in the car on their smartphone, and I'm curious how services like UBER will work after the introduction of this new law in the country.
"Using your phone while driving is punishable for motorists whether the car is moving or not. Even when stationary, using your phone while driving can be expensive for motorists. A parked driver can be verbalized and sanctioned if he gets the phone by hand, regardless of his state of circulation. The Court of Cassation judges indeed that one should not confuse the circulation and the movement."
The fine for non-compliance with this new law is 135 euros, too high even for French salaries, but it will certainly generate protests from many. It is impossible for me to understand how a rational person could change the definition of driving a car and ban the use of a smartphone when the car is parking, the whole situation being detached as if from a silly movie.
