Police issued a record number of speeding fines in 2023. Almost 7 million drivers were caught speeding. The figure is up more than 11 percent on the year. The annual national traffic statistics released today reveal the record number of fines. The number of violations of the traffic code recorded climbed to a new record: 8.4 million.
Excessive speed remains one of the biggest 'killers' in traffic, the national traffic statistics of Belgium's federal and local police show. In total, Belgian police recorded 6,883,320 speeding offenses last year. That's 11.8 percent more than in 2022.
The number of fines for speeding has been rising for years. Since 2017, the number of speeding offences recorded has doubled, an evolution that the police mainly attribute to the increase in the number of average speed camera systems being rolled out.
The majority of speeding offences involve minor infractions. In 7 out of 10 cases, the driver was driving 1 to 10 km/hour too fast; in just over 2 out of 10 cases, the speed was 11 to 20 km/hour above the permitted speed.
More offences against prohibition signs
The increase also means the total number of traffic offences has climbed to a new record high. In total, police issued 8,420,303 traffic fines last year. That is 10.6 percent more than a year earlier.
There was also a notable increase in the number of offences involving prohibition and warning signs. The number of violations in each category rose to 318,676 offences (42.5 percent more than in 2022) and 20,801 offences (51.1 percent more than in 2022), respectively.
As with speeding offences, police largely attribute the increase to the more frequent use of ANPR cameras that allow the authorities to identify drivers. The same goes for the increase in the number of offences recorded at traffic lights: in 2023 there were just under 90,000, or 6.3 percent more than in 2022.
Number of drivers over the limit or on drugs remains stable
Other figures remain stable. Last year, for example, police caught 46,712 motorists driving under the influence of alcohol, i.e. almost the same number as in 2022. The number of drivers who tested positive for drug use was 12,636 last year, slightly higher than in 2022.
Interestingly, male drivers remain overrepresented in these categories. More than 8 out of 10 alcohol offences were committed by men, for drug violations the figure is even 9 out of 10.