The Czech Republic will be flooded with new brands! They will show in which places it will be possible to use a mobile phone while driving with impunity

Perhaps it was a commotion due to the driving of 17-year-olds under the supervision of a mentor, or the information was lost under the weight of an overworked points system, in any case, Czech roads and highways will soon be flooded with new road signs that will allow something that the police would have uncompromisingly fined you for.

We are talking about mobile phones and other recording devices, which can be used legally on our roads and highways from today, i.e. from April 1, 2024, but only in marked sections and subject to certain conditions.

These sections (motorways and wide roads of the first class) are demarcated by the new IP 66a informative road sign, i.e. a square sign with a blue background and a telephone pictogram, which warns drivers of the possibility of legal use of a mobile phone, provided that their vehicle is equipped with an autonomous driving system at least the first level, which most new cars have today.

Another condition is dryness, because as soon as there is a continuous layer of water, snow, puddles, ice or frost on the road or it is possible to assume the occurrence of these factors due to the weather conditions, the permission to use a mobile phone does not apply.

However, if it is dry, it is sufficient that your car at least has adaptive cruise control and lane keepers. As soon as you activate these assistants and arrive at the section marked with this sign (IP 66a) and the external conditions are met, you can confidently grab your mobile with one hand and leave the other on the steering wheel.

Sections where it is possible to legally use a mobile phone are terminated by an informative traffic sign IP 66b, i.e. a square sign with a blue background and a white pictogram of a telephone, which is, however, crossed out by a red diagonal line.

The Ministry of Transport promises from this modification that drivers will be less bored behind the wheel and will not drive fast, therefore there will not be as many traffic police officers needed in the field, which will significantly reduce the burden on the state budget. The money saved will then go to the construction of new roads, highways and traffic signs allowing mobile phones while driving.

The construction of roads will also be supported by the sale of state property intended to convict drivers on the phone. Specifically, it is said that it will be possible to buy a bunch of binoculars, video cameras and one helicopter at favorable prices.

Are we kidding you? We do! After all, it’s the first of April. April!

Did you catch on? But we are actually not that far from the truth. In the Czech Republic, an amendment to the Road Act is actually being prepared, which should enable the driving of autonomous vehicles on our roads.

And since some cars (e.g. Mercedes-Benz S) are already approved for level 3 autonomous driving on German autobahns, this means that with autonomous mode 3 active, you as a driver do not have to constantly monitor the traffic ahead and have your hands on the wheel, but you do have to be ready to possibly intervene in the proceedings.

De facto, this means that you can, for example, poke around in the info system (and play games in it), catch fireflies, or theoretically even use a mobile phone, i.e. hold it in your hand and operate it, with impunity. Legally.

We also didn’t lie to you that much about road signs. The informative ones with the phone are of course imaginary and were painted for us by our in-house designer Rostislav Prokop, but we can actually find road signs for autonomous vehicles in our western neighbors.

They are black and white, have a round-square shape, appear mysterious, and communicate with the autonomous vehicle’s radar, which, thanks to this special marking, verifies that its map background and real position are accurate to the centimeter.

So it’s April Fool’s Day, but we hope you’ve at least learned something new. Please do not use your mobile phone behind the wheel while driving, you risk a fine of 2,500 to 3,500 CZK on the spot, even 4,000 to 10,000 CZK in administrative proceedings, and always 4 penalty points on your driver’s card. And this is no April Fool’s joke anymore.