Figures released by the Flemish Transport Minister Lydia Peeters (liberal) show that last year bus and tram drivers with the Flemish public transport company De Lijn were issued with a record number of traffic fine. The figures were released in response to a parliamentary question tabled by the Christian democrat members of the Flemish Parliament Orry Van de Wauwer and Sofie Mertens and are the subject of an article in Wednesday’s edition of the daily ‘De Tijd’.
During 2023, 2,531 traffic fines were issued with a total value of 173,000 euro. This is 17% more than during the previous record year, 2022.
In a response to the figures Mr Van de Wauwer said "It is not abnormal that drivers that drive hundreds of thousands of kilometres per annum commit the odd traffic offence. However, a doubling in the number of offences since 2019 gives cause for concern and can not be accepted. A De Lijn driver should be an example to other motorists”.
Speeding fines
In more than nine in ten cases the fines were for speeding. These were mainly for exceeding the speed limit by less than 10km/h. In addition to the more than 2,300 speeding fines, 79 drivers were caught driving through traffic lights on red. 28 drivers were caught using their mobile phone behind the wheel. This figure is much lower than in previous years.
De Lijn normally pays
In most cases it isn’t the driver, but rather De Lijn that pays the fine. Only when a driver repeatedly commits motoring offences does De Lijn demand that the driver reimburses it for the cost of the fine. In 2023 De Lijn paid 68% of all the traffic fines issued to its drivers.