Just under 200,000 fines are issued for illegal parking yearly in the Netherlands

Just under 200,000 fines are issued yearly for unlawful parking in the Netherlands. Zeeland, especially, has seen a relatively large amount of fines issued for bad parking. AutoTrack reported this on Wednesday based on all publicly available data of the Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB).

AutoTrack mapped out 5.887,878 fines issued between 2012 and 2023 to road users for not following general traffic signs. The website added that fines for speeding are not included in the list.

Almost half a million drivers are fined for ignoring an essential traffic sign a year, AutoTrack report based on the data. “The negative prize winner is the category of parking or standing still at a spot, which was not made for this,” AutoTrack reported. Of all fines for failing to comply with general traffic signs, about four in 10 (38,7 percent) go to illegal parking.

There are provinces where a proportionally high amount of fines go to illegal parkers. In Zeeland, it is almost two-thirds, 65,5 percent, of all the fines. Relatively many illegal parkers are also fined in Limburg, 52,8 percent, and Groningen, 49,5 percent. In the provinces of Utrecht (31,4 percent) and Zuid-Holland (33,4 percent), it is less than the average.

At a local level, Bergen in Limburg takes the crown for the highest average fines for illegal parking. Around 87 percent of the fines for ignoring general traffic signs go to illegal parkers. Second place also went to a municipality in Limburg, Mook en Middelaar, with 86,5 percent.

In third place was Sluis in Zeeland, with 83 percent. Rozendaal in Gelderland is the lowest in the country with 0,5 percent, followed by De Wolden in Drenthe (0,6 percent) and Dantumiel in Friesland (1 percent).