New Greek Highway Code: €4,000 Fine, 8-Year Ban for Phone Use

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Greece’s new Highway Code is taking a hard line on one of the most common habits behind the wheel: using a mobile phone while driving.

What used to be treated as a relatively minor offence can now cost drivers thousands of euros and, in the most serious cases, their licence for up to eight years. Prison sentences are also on the table if a crash causes serious injury or death.

Under the old rules, phone use while driving was punished mainly with a two-month licence suspension. The new Code introduces a clear scale of fines and bans, with much heavier penalties for repeat offenders and for accidents linked to the phone.

No crash

• First offence: €350 and a one-month ban
• Second offence: €1,000 and a six-month ban
• Third offence: €2,000 and a one-year ban

If the phone causes an accident

• First offence: €350 and a one-month ban
• Second offence: €2,000 and a four-year ban
• Third offence: €4,000 and an eight-year ban

If the crash causes serious injury, the sentence can reach 10 years. A fatal crash can bring up to 20 years. If a large number of people are killed, the law provides for life imprisonment.

Officials say the change is meant to cut Greece’s road death toll and end the idea that “just a quick look at the phone” is harmless. Studies cited with the new rules note that holding a phone delays reaction time by about half a second. At 110 km/h, that is roughly 14 extra metres before a car can stop.

The message from the ΚΟΚ (Κώδικας Οδικής Κυκλοφορίας) — Greece’s Highway Code is blunt: in Greece, a phone in your hand is no longer a slap-on-the-wrist offence.

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