Bruges police have had a busy night. During a major check on two-wheel traffic half of all drivers checked, were found to be in violation in some way or other. People on mopeds and bikes were either speeding, had no lights or were ignoring traffic signs. One moped was even able to do 116 kilometres per hour on a test bench.
‘The checks were focused on mopeds, fat bikes, e-scooters, speed pedelecs and regular bicycles. But motorists who committed offences were also pulled over,’ explains Lien Depoorter of the Bruges police.
‘We checked 156 drivers. Half of them were fine and received a gadget from our prevention team. The other half were caught committing all kinds of offences, connected to lighting, position on the road, ignoring traffic signs or traffic lights.’
New test bench
The police were also on the lookout for souped-up mopeds. In Bruges they used a new test bench for the first time. It allows the speed of different types of vehicles to be measured, including fat bikes and e-scooters. ‘One moped reached a speed of 116 kilometres per hour on the test bench. That moped was confiscated and also declared forfeited. This means that the owner will never get their moped back,’ explains Depoorter.
"A total of 15 souped-up mopeds were confiscated, 12 people were fined for ignoring traffic signs, 11 for using a smartphone while cycling or riding a scooter, and 48 for not having bicycle lights. Cyclists not holding their handlebars were also fined. 23 motorists were fined for overtaking a cyclist in a bicycle zone. The Bruges bicycle zone was expanded significantly last 1 October.
‘We have noticed that many people are still breaking the rules, despite intensive prevention campaigns. Such large-scale checks remain necessary, in addition to daily detection efforts,’ concludes Depoorter.