The federal police have caught a Dutch-language news site redhanded and called the publication out for encouraging readers to send them footage of a major road accident this week, while also reporting that hundreds had received fines for filming behind the wheel.
The Belgian federal police spotted a news story sent out by Dutch-language news site Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN) on their Twitter account, where they reported that hundreds of drivers had been fined for using their smartphones while driving to film a major road accident.
Police replied to HLN's Tweet, which they spotted a day later, with a 51-character message and a screenshot.
“It’s a shame that you encourage drivers to do so...”, was their reply, shared alongside a screenshot of what appears to be a message on HLN’s website asking readers who are stuck in the traffic to send images to the publication via email so they can “share them with other readers.”
About a hundred people were fined €116 each for filming behind the wheel, after a truck tipped over on the E40 road from Ghent to Brussels, completely blocking all lanes in the motorway during peak rush hours.
Jammer dat jullie zelf bestuurders aanzetten tot... pic.twitter.com/Ilu0jAoWkN
— Federale Politie (@federalepolitie) 23 de mayo de 2019
The Brussels Times