More than 3 million traffic offences in second term 2023
In the second four-month term of 2023 (May to August), 3,139,438 traffic offences were recorded under the Traffic Regulations (Administrative Enforcement) Act (Wahv). This is an increase of 6.9% compared to the same term in the previous year. At that time, 2,937,812 traffic fines were imposed. The increase is mainly attributable to increasing road congestion. In addition, more fines were imposed for speeding, handheld phone use and failure to comply with the helmet requirement.
The number of traffic offences detected with digital enforcement tools increased slightly from 2,766,195 in 2022 in the months of May to August to 2,937,129 in the same term of 2023. Digital enforcement tools include speed cameras and section speed control systems. The number of traffic stops this year is also higher than last year. The number of traffic fines following a traffic stop in the second quarter of this year was 202,309 compared to 171,617 in the same period in 2022.
Speed violations
The majority of traffic fines were imposed for speeding: 2,509,571 in the second four-month term of 2023, compared to 2,370,783 in the same term the previous year. Of these traffic violations, the majority were detected using digital enforcement tools by licence plate. During May to August 2023, 1,299,223 speeding offences were detected using a speed camera (up 17.4%), and 420,084 using mobile radar sets (down 2.5%). There were also 728,708 offences detected at section speed control systems, down 7.4%.
The significant increase for speed cameras compared to last year can be explained by the implementation of the flex speed camera as of November 2022. There are now nearly 30 flex speed cameras deployed across the country, and this number will continue to grow in the coming years. The decrease in section speed control systems is mainly seen in section speed control systems on N roads, which have been active since 2020. Now that these controls have been in place for a while, drivers are adhering better to the speed limit, which improves road safety.
Increase in fines for mobile phone use, violating the helmet requirement and bicycle lighting
The ‘other’ category (which includes violating the helmet requirement, handheld phone use and not using bicycle lights) showed notable increases. A total of 402,283 fines were imposed in this four-month term of 2023 in this category, up from 344,993 in the same term last year. In the months of May to August of 2023, 30,547 fines were imposed for violating the helmet requirement, up from 13,380 fines in the same period a year earlier. The introduction of the helmet requirement for mopeds (1 January 2023) accounts for the higher number of fines in this term. In the second term of this year, more offences were again recorded for handheld phone use compared to the same period last year. While last year 66,150 people were seen holding a mobile phone while driving, this year the figure was 72,609. For lack of proper and safe bicycle lights, 5,965 fines were imposed in the second four-month term of this year, compared to 3,996 fines in the same term in 2022.
Foreign traffic offenders
In the second four-month term of 2023, 359,110 traffic fines were issued to a foreign traffic offender. This is a slight increase from the 358,108 fines in the same period in 2022.
* The four-monthly overview of traffic fines under the Traffic Regulations (Administrative Enforcement) Act (Wahv) is compiled by the Ministry of Justice and Security, Police, Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB) and the Public Prosecution Service.
Originally published at https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2023/10/10/more-than-3-million-traffic-offences-in-second-term-2023
