Road offences on the rise, mainly due to increase in speeding
The number of road traffic offences recorded in Belgium rose to over eight million in 2023, mainly due to speeding, according to new federal and local police statistics. The record has been systematically beaten year after year, RTBF reports, except
The number of road traffic offences recorded in Belgium rose to over eight million in 2023, mainly due to speeding, according to new federal and local police statistics.
The record has been systematically beaten year after year, RTBF reports, except in 2020 when the pandemic and associated shutdowns significantly reduced road traffic.
Last year saw 8,423,308 breaches of the Highway Code, representing an increase of 10.6% compared with 2022. Speeding accounts for more than 80% of offences.
“This phenomenon can be explained by the increasing automation of the recording and processing of this type of offence,” the federal police said, adding that the number of speed cameras on Belgian roads is constantly increasing.
Excessive speed is one of the main causes of fatal accidents on Belgian roads, yet the number of speeding offences has more than doubled since 2015.
The majority (almost 70% of cases) of recorded speeding offences were considered to be minor offences, for example exceeding the speed limit by between one and 10 km/h. However, in 0.5% of cases (37,201 offences), the speed limit was exceeded by 40 km/h or more.
If the speed limit is exceeded by more than 30 km/h or 40 km/h, depending on the location of the offence, the motorist is referred to the court and the penalty will be determined by the public prosecutor.
Other than speeding, the most common offences were unauthorised stopping and parking, and using a mobile phone while driving. In 2023, almost 115,000 people were penalised for the latter offence.
This figure has remained more or less stable in recent years, with federal police suggesting that motorists are perhaps more aware of the dangers of distracted driving.
Driving under the influence offences also remained relatively stable in 2023, at least as far as alcohol is concerned. Nearly 47,000 people were fined for driving under the influence of alcohol (mostly during weekends), which is virtually unchanged from previous years (except again during the pandemic).
But the number of motorists testing positive for drugs rose to almost 13,000 in 2023, while the figure was less than 6,000 in 2015.
Male drivers are over-represented in these statistics. In the case of alcohol, 80.5% of offenders were men and for drug-related offences, 91.2% of drivers tested positive were male.
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