Watch out for drivers driving through Belgium: Flanders wants to deploy smart traffic cameras to fine truck drivers who overtake in rainy weather.
Few fines
Our southern neighbours introduced a ban on trucks overtaking in rainy weather several years ago. This was to prevent dangerous situations. However, many drivers ignore this ban. Foreign drivers in particular are said to be unaware of this rule and therefore regularly violate it. Yet relatively few fines were issued for this offence last year. In the first ten months of last year, 496 fines for violating a ban on overtaking were issued.
Read also: Trucks may start overtaking again due to relaxed overtaking ban
Law change
That should now change. The Agency for Roads and Traffic (AWV), together with the federal highway police, wants to deploy 13 smart traffic cameras to check the overtaking ban. The proposal is yet to be approved jacqueline Galant, minister of mobility. This is because in order to deploy the traffic cameras, the law has to be changed. Violations of the overtaking ban are now not allowed to be recorded via unmanned cameras.
Overtaking ban in the Netherlands
The ban on overtaking is also much talked about in the Netherlands. It was announced earlier this week that the ban on overtaking during rush hour will be relaxed on many routes. This is because the current ban on overtaking would cause trucks to form trains, which in turn creates dangerous situations. A relaxation of the ban should improve traffic flow on the road.
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