Traffic fines are very disproportionate to offense severity, says gov't collections boss

Traffic fines and how much they increase after every reminder are no longer proportional to the severity of the offense, said Albert Hazelhoff, the head of Dutch government's collection agency CJIB. In a response to Hazelhoff's comments to the Leeuwaarder Courant, Caretaker Minister Foort van Oosten acknowledged that the fines are “quite high,” but said the Cabinet has no intention to lower them.

Traffic fines are “increasingly out of sync with the fines in criminal law,” Hazelhoff said, addressing a concern previously raised by the Public Prosecution Service (OM) as well. The Ministry of Justice and Security is in charge of traffic fines and often increases them to fill holes in its budget.

Hazelhoff advocates for a significant reduction in how much someone is charged if they don’t pay their fine on time. After the first reminder, you currently pay 1.5 times the fine amount. This amount is doubled after a second reminder. The total amount is then three times the original fine.

According to Hazelhoff, people often forget to pay fines, causing the amount to quickly mount up. A simple traffic fine could get you into debt, or overwhelm you completely if you’re already in debt.

“We want a reduction in the fine increase, both from a debt perspective and for the sake of uniformity. Or just one reminder with an increase instead of the current two,” Hazelhoff told the newspaper. “Increases in criminal law fines are also more limited, around 20 percent. Quite different from 300 percent.”

He doesn’t want to overhaul the fining system completely. In the Netherlands, traffic fines are not part of criminal law, and Hazelhof believes that should remain the case. “You don’t want to burden the criminal justice system again with court hearings and officers having to be deployed. After all, we’re talking about 8 million traffic fines per year. Moreover, these are relatively minor offenses. You don’t want people to end up with a criminal record like that.” But there does have to be a balance, he said.

“We have to acknowledge that the fines are quite high,” Justice Minister Foort van Oosten told NOS. But he does not intend to reduce them. “The fines fund important matters within justice and security, such as the police and fire department.”

According to the VVD Minister, the high fines also deter people from committing traffic violations. “The easiest and best way for everyone to avoid a hefty fine is to simply obey the traffic rules. That way, you won’t get a ticket and everyone will enjoy driving.”