Pay attention: traffic fines will become much more expensive in the Netherlands next year | outside

Carrying your phone in your hand while driving will soon cost at least €420 in the Netherlands, which means another €40 more. Driving unnecessarily on the left on the motorway will cost €270 next year, and driving 20 kilometers in built-up areas will cost €240. For work, this amount rises to no less than 323 euros.

For comparison: If you are driving in Belgium with your mobile phone in your hand, you have to pay 174 euros, and if you are driving at 70 km/h in built-up areas you have to pay 172 euros. Please note that the amounts mentioned in both the Netherlands and Belgium do not include the €9 administrative costs.

Dutch prosecutors warned earlier this year that if fines were not reduced by 30 percent, “resistance in society could lead to tensions.” According to the Public Prosecution Office, fines are now imposed for minor traffic violations in the Netherlands, as are serious criminal cases. For example, an assault fee of around €400 is often imposed, while parking in a disabled space will soon result in a fine of €490 in the Netherlands. For us, the fine is 116 to 160 euros.

However, the Dutch government needs additional funds because there is a gap in the budget of the Ministry of Justice and Security, due to, among other things, the maintenance of speed cameras and inspection of departments. Because fewer flashes are used, 150 million euros less will be received this year than the Dutch ministry expected, according to the so-called spring memorandum.

Not only does the government push the 10 percent rate up, it also rounds it off generously. A traffic fine, for example, 240 euros will soon cost not 264 euros, but 270 euros. Fines that were previously only €110 will be rounded up. The new amount will not be 121 euros, but 120 euros.

Of the 10 percent increase, 5.7 percent consists of an inflation adjustment, and the remainder (4.3 percent) is supplemental. Proceeds from traffic violations should help fill budget gaps. As a result of this increase, the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security will receive approximately 43 million additional euros in 2024 under the heading “Fines and Transactions,” AutoRai reported.

The Dutch government hopes to collect approximately 59 million euros through traffic violations from 2028. This should be achieved, among other things, by increasing the number of digital speed cameras and “focus flashes”, which monitor phone use in the car day and night. . The replacement of a large number of departmental control systems will also be completed by then.