Should he give the policeman a bribe so that he won’t charge him a fine for speaking on the cell phone in the car?
Question

                In our country if you speak on a cell phone whilst driving, the traffic policeman will charge you a fine of 500 dinars. If you give him a bribe he will let you off, if you have money with you, and if you do not have money with you, he will put you in jail. What should I do?.
Praise be to Allah.Islam came 
    to protect the five basic essentials: religion, reason, life, wealth and 
    honour. There is no doubt that adhering to traffic laws plays a role in 
    protecting people’s lives and wealth. Hence Islam requires the Muslims to 
    adhere to these rules and regulations, especially when there is nothing in 
    them that goes against sharee’ah; rather they are aimed at preserving 
    people’s lives and property. 
Going 
    against these rules and regulations does not only bring harm to the driver 
    himself, rather that affects other people too. The accidents that happen on 
    the road as the result of going against these rules and regulations usually 
    affect other parties too, which makes the transgressor more responsible and 
    he will be burdened with numerous rulings such as diyah (blood money), 
    fasting, paying compensation for damage done, and so on. 
Punishing 
    transgressors by making them pay fines is permissible according to 
    sharee’ah. This is the view of Ishaaq ibn Raahayawh, Abu Yoosuf the 
    companion of Abu Haneefah, Ibn Farhoon (who was a Maaliki), Shaykh al-Islam 
    Ibn Taymiyah and Ibn al-Qayyim. In his book al-Turuq al-Hukmiyyah Ibn 
    al-Qayyim quoted a great deal of evidence that it is permissible to impose 
    fines, and he quoted the words of Ibn Taymiyah concerning the matter, and 
    refuted those who said it is abrogated. 
In 
    Haashiyat ‘ala Tahdheeb Sunan Abi Dawood (4/319) it says: 
With regard 
    to the permissibility of imposing financial penalties, there are a number of 
    ahaadeeth from the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), 
    and there is no proof that they have been abrogated, and the khulafa’ 
    (caliphs) after him acted upon them. End quote. 
The penalty 
    should be reasonable, so that the intended purpose will be served, which is 
    to deter people from breaking these rules. There is nothing wrong with 
    making the fines high, based on the nature of the infraction and the effect 
    it has on the person and on others. 
This issue 
    has also been discussed in the answer to question no. 
    21900. 
There is no 
    doubt that using the cell phone whilst driving can cause accidents which may 
    lead to deaths, let alone loss of property.
Wise people 
    in all parts of the world have pointed out the necessity of imposing stern 
    punishments in order to prevent people from using cell phones whilst 
    driving. Field research has been conducted in Britain which demonstrates 
    that the negative effects of using cell phones supercede the effects of 
    drinking on a person’s driving ability! 
This 
    research proves that a driver who uses a cell phone whilst driving is 30% 
    less in control of his vehicle than one who drives when drunk. In comparison 
    to a normal person, the one who uses a cell phone when driving is 50% less 
    in control of his vehicle. 
Some experts 
    say that using cell phones when driving, even when using headphones, 
    increases the possibility of getting into an accident by 400%. 
For more 
    details please see the Qatari al-Watan newspaper, Wednesday 
    10/7/2005. 
Conclusion: 
    using a cell phone whilst driving is a major cause of accidents, so the 
    punishment for this infraction, whether it is a fine or imprisonment, is 
    justifiable. Based on this, it is not permissible for you to give a bribe to 
    the policeman in order to avoid this penalty, because you are the one who is 
    in the wrong. But if the policeman is wronging you by charging you with 
    something that you have not done, then there is no sin in this case, if you 
    cannot rid yourself of his wrongdoing except by paying a bribe to him or to 
    someone else. For more information on that, please see the answer to 
    question no. 72268. 
And Allaah 
    knows best.