Foreigners rarely fined for Belgian road offences

8 March 2004

BRUSSELS – Most foreigners who commit motoring offences in Belgium are not punished, the Belga news agency reported on Monday.

According to Belga only around seven out of every hundred foreign motorists stopped for traffic offences in Belgium actually end up facing any sort of sanctions.

The unlucky seven and a half percent tend to be motorists who agree to pay on the spot fines, the agency added.

According to Belga, the problem stems from the fact that the authorities in many foreign motorists’ home countries do not co-operate with their Belgian counterparts.

This means fines handed out in Belgium are often never paid.

In addition, said Belga, the Belgian service that is supposed to deal with foreigners’ driving infractions is snowed under with work.

Subject: Belgian news