Mobility organization Touring has never been a fervent supporter of low-emission zones (LEZ). While in Flanders, for example, a coalition of environmental associations has gone to the Council of State to challenge the freezing of LEZ in Antwerp and Ghent, Touring says that the freezing of LEZ is a good thing in the long run.
Now it is also complaining about the high fines for the LEZ in Brussels. Touring considers them completely disproportionate and calls for reason and common sense. The Council of State is currently examining an ordinance by the MR to significantly reduce the fines for non-compliance with the stricter standards of the Brussels LEZ.
Absurd situation
Anyone entering Brussels with a car or motorcycle that does not comply with LEZ rules will be fined €350. However, if you drive twice the speed limit in a 30 km/h zone or run a red light, it will cost you €283 and €235, respectively.
That is, if you get caught, because when you enter an LEZ zone, you will be detected and penalized by a network of automatic cameras, while the chance of getting caught and fined is much smaller for the latter two cases.
As the liberal political party, MR, Touring finds this situation absurd and completely disproportionate. “Putting yourself or others in concrete and immediate danger is less systematically monitored and costs considerably less than entering the capital with a car or motorcycle that does not meet the recently tightened criteria.”
For the mobility organization, a fine should draw attention to a mistake and encourage behavior change. Still, it should not be a financial burden for those who cannot afford a newer vehicle or who break the rules without malicious intent.
Strict mut more generous “adjustment period”
In Antwerp and Ghent, you pay €150 for a first offense. For a second offense within a year, the fine is €250, and for a third offense, €350. In Brussels, you pay a fixed amount of €350 in all three cases.
But while Antwerp and Ghent use a graduated system, the stricter system has a longer “adjustment period.” If you are caught speeding for the first time in an unauthorized vehicle, you will first receive a warning letter.
You will then have three months to modify or replace your vehicle. The €350 fine will only be sent if you are caught again after those three months.
You can also receive up to one fine per quarter. Unlike in Brussels, there is no quarterly limit in Antwerp and Ghent so that you can be fined every day.
Pressure from the EU
The high fines are intended to convince owners that it is cheaper to sell their car or trade it in for a more environmentally friendly model than to risk a few fines. They have also been introduced due to a legal and European pressure. For years, Belgium has been a “poor performer” in terms of air quality. The EU imposes heavy fines on member states that exceed nitrogen and particulate matter standards.
Brussels uses the high LEZ fines to demonstrate that it is taking decisive measures to avoid these European penalties. In addition, air pollution costs billions in healthcare. The high fines are presented to make the “polluter pay” for the damage to society.
Strange quandary
According to Touring, air quality is improving mainly due to the natural renewal of the vehicle fleet, rather than by forcing people to dispose of their cars early through fines. But with their position, they are putting themselves in a strange quandary. In recent years, they have increasingly profiled themselves as an organization for “multimodal transport,” including cyclists.
However, as a cyclist, you are literally right up close to the exhaust pipe. Older diesel, such as the Euro 5 models for which Touring requested an extra postponement, emit more nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter than newer models.
In other words, the wallets of motorists, their largest support base, carry more weight than the health of thousands of city dwellers and cyclists.
The right to healthy air could also translate into advocating, for example, the introduction of subsidies to purchase EVs for lower-income groups.
