In 2016, a total of 108,500 fines were issued for GSM use at the wheel. This corresponds to an average of nearly 300 offences observed per day. This emerges from the figures communicated by the Minister for the Interior, Jan Jambon (New Flemish Alliance). This came in response to a parliamentary question by the Flemish Christian Democrats deputy, Jef Van den Bergh.
More than half of these fines (58,012) targeted car drivers, and approximately a quarter (25,442) van drivers. Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) were targeted on some 7,025 occasions, and bus drivers “caught” 425 times.
Jef Van den Bergh says that a disconcerting aspect is the increasing number of cyclists that were caught using their GSM without expecting to be. Some 836 cyclists received a fine for such behaviour.
That having been said, the general pattern of the statistics remains in line with 2015.
The Brussels Times
