Focus on the Road: 3,046 Serbian Drivers Fined Over Phones
Traffic police checked more than 51,000 drivers at over 6,300 checkpoints in a seven-day operation. So far this year, 85 pedestrians have been killed, three more than last year.
Serbia’s traffic police penalized 3,046 drivers for improper mobile phone use during the Focus on the Road operation, and fined another 380 pedestrians who used a phone or headphones while crossing the road. The operation ran from October 5 to 11, 2026, and the Interior Ministry published the combined figures on October 12.
What do the operation’s figures show?
The checks were carried out simultaneously in 34 European countries, coordinated by the ROADPOL network of traffic police forces. In Serbia, traffic was monitored at more than 6,300 checkpoints, and more than 51,000 drivers were checked.
After phone use, the most common violation was not wearing a seatbelt:
- 3,046 drivers fined for using a phone while driving
- 380 pedestrians fined for using a phone or headphones at a crossing
- 7,529 violations for not wearing a seatbelt
- 29 drivers found under the influence of psychoactive substances
According to traffic police data, more than 10,000 violations were detected in total. The Interior Ministry says about 8,000 others were recorded on top of the phone violations. In its statement, the ministry repeated that using a phone while driving raises the risk of a crash four to 20 times and announced new measures for stricter enforcement.
Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Vida of the Traffic Police Directorate said on RTS that this many violations were recorded even though the operation had been announced in advance.
“Unfortunately, this tells us that a certain number of road users still do not understand how little it takes, a second of inattention, for a tragedy to happen in traffic,” Vida said.
Why are pedestrians the most at risk?
Since the start of the year, 85 pedestrians have been killed on Serbian roads, three more than in the same period last year. Vida warned that a pedestrian who looks at a phone or talks on it while crossing the street significantly raises the risk to themselves.
“Pedestrians are the most at-risk category of road users, and a pedestrian who looks at a mobile phone or talks on the phone while crossing the road is many times more likely to be involved in a traffic accident,” Vida stressed.
The seatbelt in the back seat
According to figures from the Road Traffic Safety Agency, about 30 percent of back-seat passengers wear a seatbelt, compared with about 85 percent in the front. Vida said that wearing a seatbelt cuts the risk of death by 55 to 75 percent, and that an unbelted passenger in the back can injure both themselves and those in front of them in a crash.
“It is the most important element of passive safety and the thing that does the most to reduce the consequences of a traffic accident when one happens,” Vida explained.
Alcohol and narcotics
Unlike breathalyzer tests, drug tests are given only to drivers who are under suspicion, because the procedure is more complicated and takes up to about ten minutes. In this operation, 29 drivers were found under the influence of psychoactive substances. Vida said the situation has improved when it comes to the most serious crashes.
“What is good is that in the last few years the number of drivers under the influence of alcohol and psychoactive substances who caused the most serious traffic accidents has been cut in half, and that was achieved solely through intensive checks by the traffic police,” Vida said.
The traffic police will keep stepping up checks, especially on main roads where the more serious crashes happen, with an emphasis on speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol and psychoactive substances. Vida’s message was:
“The message is to obey traffic rules, not because of the penalties prescribed by law, but for their own safety and the safety of their loved ones and all other road users.”
Results in Leskovac
In the same operation, the Leskovac Police Department detected 402 violations in total. Of those, 195 were for improper phone use, 202 for not wearing a seatbelt, three for using audio or video devices and two for wearing headphones in both ears. In its statement, the department urged drivers not to use a phone behind the wheel, to buckle up in the back seat as well, and to carry children in a safety seat or on a booster.
