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ANPThe cabinet wants to increase traffic fines by 10 percent to absorb the setbacks
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 17:07
The House of Representatives wants to partially reverse the recent increase in traffic fines. The fines were increased by 10 percent in January to close the gaps in the budget. A majority of the House of Representatives now opposes this. These higher fines must now be reduced by 4.3 percent.
A proposal by the opposition party Denk has been supported by seven opposition parties, which now have a majority after the House of Representatives elections. This concerns PVV, BBB, Forum for Democracy, JA21, SP, GroenLinks-PvdA and Denk, together 81 seats.
“The fines are intended to increase road safety and the amount of those fines must be proportionate to the nature and severity of the violation,” says Denk MP El Abassi. “Closing budget deficits should not be a reason to increase traffic fines.”
It is not yet certain that the outgoing cabinet will respond to this wish of the House of Representatives. Responsible outgoing Minister Yesilgöz of Justice and Security will first have to respond.
The cabinet decided in the spring of 2023 to increase traffic fines by 10 percent. This concerns, for example, driving under the influence, driving through red lights and not wearing a seat belt.
The Council of State also expressed strong criticism of the cabinet plan in November. Traffic fines are solely there to increase road safety, according to the independent advisor to the cabinet. In that 10 percent increase, 4.3 percent was intended to cover the gaps in the budget, according to the advice of the Council of State. The other increase of 5.7 percent was an annual indexation.
For this reason, the House of Representatives has now arrived at a percentage of 4.3. It is not yet clear when Yesilgöz will respond to the wishes of the House of Representatives.
