The new SPECS speed camera system has been in operation for four months on the stretch of motorway between Ghent and Antwerp. Between June and October 40,000 vehicles were found to be travelling in excess of the permitted speed of 90 km/h. 30,000 of these vehicles had a foreign number plates.
The new speed cameras measure the average speed of vehicles over a stretch of motorway. This contrasts with the conventional speed camera that measures the vehicle’s speed at one given point. The checks have been underway for four months now and this is the first time that detailed figures have been released showing that three quarters of the victims are visitors to Belgium.
Introducing SPECS on the motorway took many years, but since June of last year a camera is now operational at Gentbrugge in Ghent on a stretch of motorway for Antwerp bound drivers.
It has emerged that it’s above all foreign drivers who are being fined as a result of the introduction of SPECS on the E17 Ghent Antwerp Motorway. Three in every four drivers getting a fine on this stretch of motorway is a foreign national.
Tine Hollevoet of Federal Roads Police: “Fixed speed cameras throw up an entirely different result. Here foreigners only make up 30% of the total compared to 70% for Belgians. Now we see the reverse, but it can be explained. Every single Belgian knows that it’s not a good idea to speed at Gentbrugge. Foreigners may be less aware of this, but though it is well signposted.”
