Being caught driving without a license 21 times. Or being caught 31 times while talking on the phone behind the wheel, as recently happened in the province of Utrecht. Traffic psychologist Gerard Tertoolen watches with dismay how some drivers are very hard-willed and make mistakes time and time again. “That caller behind the wheel has already had to pay around 9,000 to 10,000 euros in fines.”
The motorist who went on a rampage near Roosendaal on Wednesday is also no stranger to the police. He was caught driving without a license 21 times in the past 7 years. On Wednesday he crashed his car after a crazy ride while being chased by police.
The fine for driving without a driver’s license is 370 euros. The second time you pay 500 euros and you have to explain to a judge why you drove without a driver’s license again. The third time is again a higher prison sentence. The maximum penalty is six months in prison. “That is for people who really make a mess of it,” says traffic officer Achilles Damen. “People say at a hearing that they make their own choices. Then I say, that may be true, but then this is the answer. Then at least people cannot make the mistake again during that period.”
“People almost immune to punishment.”
What motivates drivers who keep making mistakes? “I cannot speak for the man at Roosendaal, I do not know his case. But some people are simply insensitive to the punishment,” says traffic officer Damen. “They think, I’ll serve the sentence and then just move on.”
“It is unimaginable how some people make mistakes again and again,” says traffic psychologist Tertoolen. “They are almost immune to punishment. I was once on a course for people who had gotten behind the wheel while drunk. There was a man who had driven his car drunk through a billboard. He had to pay a fine, pay for the billboard, his car was a total loss, he had to pay for the course and he had to take days off himself. Yet he said he would just get back in the car drunk. He had to go home anyway.”
“Pay no attention to rules, only your own rules apply.”
But what goes on in the minds of those people? According to Tertoolen, it could be overestimation. “People consider themselves good drivers.” Traffic officer Damen often sees this overestimation. “You also see it in people who are caught driving too fast. They think they can drive well. You see these people from all walks of life, from young to old. I then point out to them the consequences of driving 10 kilometers too fast in built-up areas. Things can quickly end badly.” The consequences for a victim can be catastrophic if the driver also drives around without insurance.
According to Tertoolen, some people also ignore the rules. “Those people only live according to their own rules. They have no respect for the police or the judiciary.” Can family do anything? Tertoolen fears not. “People don’t listen to family members. Or they come from a family that also finds it scandalous that someone has been arrested again.”
Traffic officer Damen once again points out the dangers of driving without a driver’s license. “Some people may be able to drive quite well, that’s what they say. But if you don’t formally have the paper, you may not know what to do in a more complicated situation because you haven’t been trained for that.”