70 of the 82 planned SPECS or average speed camera controls along Flemish regional roads will be scrapped. This leaves only about 10 stretches where new SPECS or Speed Check Enforcement System controls are planned. Flemish mobility minister Annick De Ridder (nationalist N-VA) announced the news in the Flemish Parliament on Wednesday.
Ms De Ridder was replying to questions by Tomas Roggeman (N-VA) and Bart Claes (far-right Vlaams Belang).
Lawmaker Roggeman pointed to the proliferation of such checks. He wants such checks to be used to improve road safety, and not to generate extra revenue for the government. "Checks should be targeted on places where speed really causes danger. This will make the policy fairer and more transparent," Mr Roggeman said.
Minister De Ridder said she shared that concern. She ordered her administration to review the list of 82 planned SPECS systems along regional roads based on two clear criteria: only locations with a high number of accidents involving injury and where there is a problem of excessive speed. Result of that exercise: only 10 planned SPECS will remain.
SPECS to be signposted again
In addition, the minister earlier announced that signposts announcing SPECS controls will also be reinstalled along regional roads. The signs had been removed by the previous mobility minister Lydia Peeters but are now being reintroduced on Ms De Ridder's initiative. "Clear communication about enforcement is essential for confidence in the policy. Citizens must experience enforcement as fair, transparent and purposeful," she noted.