An Antwerp judge has cancelled a fine meted out to a law student from the Antwerp suburbs after he entered the low emission zone (LEZ) with his polluting vehicle. The student argued that the sign that signalled the beginning of the LEZ was hanging too low and was insufficiently visible.
The student from Brasschaat, a municipality that in 2006 won an award for the most liveable municipality in the world, was fined 250 euros, but successfully argued that once he had inadvertently entered the LEZ it was impossible to leave without committing another serious traffic offence like crossing an unbroken white line.
“I never saw the sign” 21-year-old Gill Bulinckx told the judge. “You couldn’t see it because of the busy traffic and the fact it’s hanging so low. If there are buses or HGVs in the slow lane, drivers in the fast lane can’t see the sign”.
The verdict in Gill’s case is not necessarily good news for other offenders. Belgian law is not based on precedents and other defendants will have to argue their own case.