The speed cameras in the Brussels Ixelles police zone had a busy year in 2021, flashing 17% more often than they did in 2020 and checking 21% more drivers.
More than 33 million drivers were checked for speed last year, according to a police press release, and the majority – just over 30 million – were checked by the automatic speed cameras in the territory of Brussels and Ixelles, leading to 27,561 fines.
Supporting the cameras were mobile radars, which checked 329,003 drivers in 76 different locations and resulted in 18,858 official reports.
There were 253 drivers who saw their license revoked for a period of 15 days.
Souped up mopeds also seized
Among the speeders were people on mopeds – 97 mopeds were taken off the streets for various reasons, including illegal modifications that allow them to go faster.
“One moped rider reached no less than 97 km/h while the vehicle should only be allowed to travel 25 km/h in category A,” the police report said.
Some of the worst speeding behavior included a driver on Avenue de Vilvoorde (Vilvoordselaan) who was going 157 km/h in a 50 km/h zone, one on Allée-Verte (Groendreef) going 73 km/h instead of 50 km/h and someone on the Boulevard Nieuport (Nieuwpoortlaan) driving 109 km/h in a Zone 30.
Alcohol and drugs
There were also 79,279 breath tests given in 2021, both during specific actions and after an intervention as a result of an accident or during unscheduled checks.
A total of 1,831 cases of drunk driving resulted, with 431 driving licenses immediately withdrawn for a period of 15 days. An outlier was a driver who blew a 2.13, when the Belgian limit is a maximum of 0.21.
There were 387 cases of driving under the influence of drugs, reflecting a wider-spread problem: an increasing number of young people are driving after using drugs, often combining that with alcohol or laughing gas.
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The police noted that as a result of the pandemic and the related closures of discotheques and the catering industry, plus the cancellation of many events which therefore didn’t need police presence, it was possible to increase the number of alcohol and drug controls done.
Other figures of note include 4,713 fines for people parked illegally in handicap spots – something which Antwerp is also cracking down on – and 19,965 fines for drivers using their cell phone behind the wheel.
