In recent weeks, the police have issued a hundred fines to cyclists riding in the pedestrian area Hoofdstraat and Woldstraat in Meppel. On Friday, another 33 offenders were fined. Offenders often curse at the police.
The police officer of Meppel-Centrum wrote this on his Instagram page. According to him, the number of people who simply cycle in areas where this is not allowed is not decreasing. The problem has been there for years and people have been complaining about it for years. These are pedestrian areas and you are not allowed to cycle there during shopping hours. That’s because of safety. This way, pedestrians are not run over by cyclists. A fine costs 60 euros.
Disrespectful
The police officer states that seventy percent of the offenders are adults. According to him, there is a large group that reacts extremely disrespectfully when the police points out their violation and gives them a ticket. They think it’s all nonsense and think the police have better things to do.
District police officer Kevin van Meppel-Centrum “For example, there was a father with a cargo bike, carrying his young children, who wanted to let his colleagues know in a very sad way that it was nonsense, because he cycled slowly through the Hoofdstraat. I hope that the numbers will soon decrease, because no (it is asked at every inspection) our days do not get any better if we write fines.”