A further 43 new section checks will be added on regional roads in Flanders. And that is necessary, says Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld). “They reduce the number of serious traffic accidents by more than 50%.” The installation will start this year and should be completed by 2023 at the latest. These are the places where it is better to take your foot off the accelerator from now on.
“The effect of section checks on road safety has been proven”, says Flemish minister Lydia Peeters. There are currently 251 and a further 43 will be added on regional roads between now and next year, in addition to 8 new red light cameras and 6 new speed cameras, representing an investment of 6.7 million euros. Flanders is allocating a total of 40 million euros for the fight against heavy feet that cause serious traffic accidents.
“At the level of section checks, the number of speeding violations decreases by about 78%. Research shows that the number of crashes near a section control drops by 15 to even 30 percent. Especially in the area of serious accidents, we notice this effect with a decrease of more than 50%.”
20 new ones a year
The new route checks will be in places where the municipalities could compile their own file. “They know the traffic situations on their territory through and through,” said Minister Peeters. In this way, Flanders wants to get rid of the so-called black points – the places where the most serious accidents happen.
In addition, Peeters still wants to place 20 section checks on the basis of the priority list of the Roads and Traffic Agency, also on motorways. To this end, existing speed cameras will be converted into section controls.
Without tolerance margins
Placing cameras is one thing, making them work is another: last year it turned out that fines were handed out at barely 86 route checks in Flanders. The explanation was then: the police had a software problem. By the summer, according to Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open Vld), speed traps on highways should always be active, even without tolerance margins.
The police and the public prosecutor also receive extra resources to deal with fines. According to the minister, 58 extra forces will be deployed this year in the regional processing centers of the federal police, which are responsible for drawing up the reports. The public prosecutor’s offices and the police courts will also be reinforced.
Police Judge
“That the nuisance of section checks would be too great for the police and public prosecutors, isn’t it completely unfounded? If one handles the fines administratively, it is very simple. It is only in the case of very high speeding offenses that the driver is brought before a police judge”, responds Professor Johan De Mol, mobility expert at Ghent University. “Travel controls are the best means of controlling speed over longer distances. And speed is still the main cause of serious casualties in major accidents. If you keep the speed under control, the number of fatalities in traffic will automatically decrease.”
Soon speed traps on highways always active, with no tolerance margin
Twice as many fines expected due to new route checks
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