Road toll fines were issued to HGVs on more than 31,000 occasions last year in Flanders, according to Belgian media reports. The fines are collectively worth more than €12 million.
The authorities have nonetheless had troubles collecting the fines from foreign trucks, and local politicians have urged the government to increase enforcement.
Since 2016, lorries on Belgian roads have to pay a road toll based on the number of kilometres travelled . In 2020, a record number of fines were issued in Flanders for lorries that do not comply with that legislation.
The 31,283 fines issued last year are worth more than 12 million euros altogether.
The problem for Belgium is that these fines are hard to collect. As Belgian politician Van Rompuy pointed out to De Morgen, in 2019, 75,2% of the fines were successfully collected from Belgian companies, but only 64.9% of the fines could be collected from foreign businesses. He also added that two-third of the fines are issued to trucks registered outside of Belgium.
This is why there is a growing demand for the Belgian Government to increase their investment in effective enforcement.
“Mobile teams must be able to intervene more quickly if foreign trucks re-enter our territory with outstanding fines. If necessary, by hoisting the truck involved” – Van Rompuy concludes.
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