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When a Dutch person is caught speeding on holiday in France, the fine is increasingly being received back home in the Netherlands. This is done through the exchange of number plate data on a European level, facilitated by the European information system EUCARIS. Each year, the CJIB publishes how many traffic fines have been sent to and paid by each other European country; but do Dutch people actually pay the traffic fines they receive from other countries? This was researched by Dialogic on behalf of the WODC.
An inventory in a large number of European countries revealed that an average of 83% of traffic fines sent to holders of Dutch number plates was paid in the period 2017-2021. For fines from Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and Germany, the collection rate is even between 85-95%. This shows that Dutch number plate holders are more willing to pay traffic fines than plate holders from other countries. We believe that the efficiency of the CJIB in collecting fines plays a role here: Dutch people are simply "trained" to pay their fines.
At the same time, there is still room for improvement. Within the European exchange procedures, there is also the option to transfer traffic fines to the country of the plate holder – in this case, the Netherlands – if collection by the foreign country is unsuccessful. This allows the CJIB to collect a traffic fine from, for example, Germany, when Germany itself fails to do so. The fine revenue goes to the country collecting the fine – so the Netherlands can keep the money. In practice, it seems that mainly the Netherlands and Germany make use of this possibility. Other countries are less likely to transfer an unpaid traffic fine to the Netherlands.
The ultimate goal is to increase road safety, as drivers are likely to exhibit less risky driving behaviour when the likelihood of receiving a fine is higher. Therefore, we recommend improving cooperation in the exchange of traffic fines by further automating work processes, making it harder to evade payment. In his letter to Parliament, Minister Weerwind indicated that attention will be drawn to this at a European level.
Read the full report here. Want to know more? Contact Robbin te Velde.