It’s the mobile speed camera’s birthday. And they celebrate this at the Public Prosecution Service because the results achieved by the mobile speed camera are very satisfying. That enthusiasm will probably not be shared by the 52,448 road users who were ticketed last year for driving too fast in Brabant.
Bergen op Zoom was the first to have to deal with the mobile speed camera. An introduction that many motorists will remember with a sour smile. Because on the Randweg West, 347 drivers were fined in two months thanks to, or perhaps despite, the mobile speed camera.
“From the moment we install a flexible flash somewhere, we often see a rapid decrease in the number of violations. The average speed also decreases,” said a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service (OM). According to her, the first tentative conclusion is that the mobile speed camera has a lasting effect on people’s driving behavior. “If we remove the flexible speed camera, the number of violations will increase. But that number is lower than before the use of the mobile speed camera,” said the spokesperson.
“We want to encourage people to adjust their driving behavior for a longer period of time.”
Each flex flash maintains the maximum speed 24 hours a day. After approximately two months in the same location, the automatic speed enforcer moves to the next location. “Drivers are becoming more aware of their speed and driving behavior. We occasionally put the flex flash back in the same place, so that people are encouraged to adjust their driving behavior not for a short time, but for a longer period of time,” the Public Prosecution Service spokesperson explains.
“The flex flash reduces speed and increases safety for road workers.”
The judiciary is very pleased with the positive effect of the mobile speed camera. Especially in places where road work is underway. An adjusted lower maximum speed always applies, but not everyone takes this into sufficient account. “Thanks to the flex speed camera, the speed of traffic decreases and that increases safety for road workers. We therefore want to use two to three flex speed cameras during road works from now on,” the spokesperson announces.
The Public Prosecution Service currently has around thirty mobile speed cameras in the country. By 2026 there should be about 125. The figures in Brabant don’t lie. In total, more than 52,000 vehicles were flashed this year. “At one location the effect is greater than the other, but sometimes the ‘problem’ was also greater. So you cannot simply compare those numbers,” the Public Prosecution Service said.
Flex flash units were installed in various places in Brabant last year. Below is an overview of the number of speeding violations recorded by these mobile speed cameras. The absolute leader is the Geldropseweg in Eindhoven with almost 21,000 fines.
2022 (November to December)
- Bergen op Zoom – Randweg: 347 times
- Den Bosch, Sint Teunislaan 149 times
2023 (January to April)
- Den Bosch – Sint Teunislaan: 972 times
- Bergen op Zoom – Randweg: 387 times
- Breda – Julianalaan: 7.525
2023 (May to August)
- Den Bosch – Sint Teunislaan 541 times
- Bergen op Zoom – Randweg: 882
- Breda – Julianalaan: 7200
- Tilburg – Ringbaan Zuid: 6,220
- ‘s-Hertogenbosch – Rompertsebaan 292
- Tilburg – N261 Burgemeester Bechtweg: 6513
- Meierijstad – N637 Rooiseweg: 510
- Eindhoven – Geldropseweg 20.910
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