Since last week, the inspectors of the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat) have new powers and can issue a ticket to truck drivers themselves.
Road traffic inspectors can now punish drivers who approach a tunnel with a truck that is too high. The inspector no longer has to wait for the police to arrive and issue a ticket, informs the Dutch transport association TLN.
Truckers approaching a tunnel with a truck that is more than 4 m high in the Netherlands can be fined between €470 and €1,000.
The height of trucks is measured with an altimeter well ahead of tunnels. If the driver does not exit the motorway and continues the route despite the restriction, the tunnel gets closed and an inspector from the Ministry of Waterways and Public Works approaches the driver to impose a fine.
This is another offence that can be punished by the road traffic inspector – from this month on, they can also issue fines for driving in the emergency lane. Since 2015, they have been entitled to impose penalties for emergency lane parking and ignoring the so-called red Xs (part of a traffic management system similar to the British one, which we described in a June article).
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