Netherlands Proposes Legislation To Ban Use Of Phones On Bicycles (npr.org)

The Dutch government is considering a proposal to ban the use of smartphones and other "mobile electronic devices" on bicycles. From a report: Infrastructure Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen published the draft legislation on Thursday, NL Times reports. If approved, it could go into effect in the summer of 2019. It is already illegal to use a phone while driving a motor vehicle in the Netherlands, the news site says. Offenders face a fine of more than $250. Biking is a widespread form of transportation in the Netherlands, and extending the telephone ban to bikes has been discussed for several years. In 2015, then-Infrastructure Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen concluded that it would be impossible to enforce a ban on phone use on bikes, according to a 2016 story from Dutch News. But the following year, the government began reconsidering its position.

Comments

Re:That's going to really tick off people

[drinkypoo]

Are you allowed to use them in a cradle in the car there like you are here in California, so long as you aren't texting or doing more than the occasional touch? If so, perhaps you'll be able to use them on a cycle on the same basis.

Already the case elsewhere?

[Corbets]

I’m pretty sure it’s already illegal to talk on your phone while bicycling in Switzerland. Laws that apply to motorists apply to bicyclists, and you can lose your drivers license for actions on a bicycle, so I would expect that phone use - illegal in a car - is also illegal on a bike.