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Fines for not wearing a seat belt will be doubled for adults and increased threefold if children under the age of 12 are found not to have been belted up. Those caught drinking and driving will also face stiffer fines.
The fines for adults caught not wearing a seatbelt will increase from 50 to 100 Euro. Drivers allowing children under 12 to not wear a seat belt will be fined 150 Euro.
Those driving under the influence will also face stiffer fines. The blood/alcohol limit for professional drivers such as truckers and bus drivers is also being reduced from 0.5 to 02. per mille.
In future, other drivers caught with between 0.5 and 0.8 pro mille will be fined 170 Euro insted of the current 150 Euro.
The extra revenue from the increase in the level of fines will be used to fund extra roadside checks.
Drivers of Belgian registered car will have their driving licences confiscated if they are found to have more than 1.2 per mille alcohol in their blood.
This is 1.5 per mille for drivers of foreign registered cars.
The new measures are part of the Transport Minister Melchior Wathelet’s (Francophone Christian democrat) road safety plan.
Other decisions made at Friday’s cabinet meeting
The nuclear reactors Doel 1 and 2 will now close in 2015, Doel 3 in 2022, Tihange 2 in 2023 and Tihange 1 and 3 and Doel 4 in 2025.
In future, the State Pension Service make greater use of digital communication methods.
Electronic case files will be drawn up for all prisoners serving time in Belgian gaols. This will make it easier for the prison authorities to check a detainee’s record while he or she is in prison.
In future, the Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight against Racism will be known as the Inter-Federal Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Tackling of Discrimination and Racism. The centre will now work at language community and regional level and will no longer be responsible for looking into issues concerning migration, human trafficking and basic rights for foreigners.
A new competition watchdog (BMA) will be set up the BMA will act if there are issues surrounding pricing and price fixing.
[Flandersnews.be / Expatica]