Speed checks on 100 km/h motorways rendered useless by Dutch navigation app

Speed checks on 100 km/h motorways rendered useless by Dutch navigation app
Illustration image. Credit: Pexels

Dutch drivers are using Flitsmeister, an app that is gaining in popularity, to avoid speed checks with mobile speed cameras, rendering them useless.

Even though more checks were organised in 2019, 10% fewer fines were written out, according to Flitsmeister's data. Public services are worried as the maximum speed on Dutch roads will be reduced to 100 km/h between 6:00 AM and 7:00 PM as of mid-March.

Experts expect that the new speed limit will be violated massively, and the police and the authorities wonder how the new speed limit can be maintained if people will be able to avoid the speed checks.

Since the introduction of the Flitsmeister app, drivers hardly receive any fines anymore. The fine for driving faster than 100 km/h is set at €245.

1.6 million people in the Netherlands use the Flitsmeister app at the moment, and the number increases by roughly 17,000 people every month.

Users of the app can only get caught when the speed camera has been installed very recently. "However, since it takes some time to install one, the app has usually already registered the camera before it is even operational," the police said, reports NewMobility.

16,111 speed checks were organised along the Dutch motorways in 2019, which is a 10% increase compared to 2018. However, in 2018, over 597,000 drivers were caught driving too fast, against 'only' 362,334 in 2019. "It is a rat race against Flitsmeister," said Koos Spee, a former traffic expert, reports AD. "The chance to get caught is nil. Experienced drivers know where the checks are posted," he added.

"Only 40% of motorists say they adapt their speed, 30% of them categorically refuse to do so, and the rest only respect the speed limit when a camera is present," Spee added.

Research will be done now to look into new methods, like driving speed checks.

Maïthé Chini

The Brussels Times


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