Much more fines were issued last year for ignoring a red cross, Rijkswaterstaat reports.
Last year, road inspectors issued a total of 5,600 fines. 4,920 of those coupons were for ignoring a red cross. This means that 55 percent more fines were issued for ignoring red crosses in 2020 than in the previous year (3,159). In 2018, only 1,653 coupons were issued for the same violation. According to Rijkswaterstaat, distraction is the main cause of ignoring red crosses.
In principle, ignoring red crosses leads to very dangerous situations, Rijkswaterstaat indicates. Partly as a result of a number of incidents in which red crosses were deliberately ignored last year, Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure and Water Management) is entering into talks with various parties, including the judiciary, to consider possible additional actions.
“There are few symbols easier to understand than a red cross. I cannot believe that there are people who consciously ignore this warning and thereby put the lives of our road inspectors and other road users at risk. involves road works or taking an accident off the road, a red cross is there for a reason, “said the minister.
Rijkswaterstaat has employed road inspectors with a so-called boa status since 2015. Rijkswaterstaat now has nearly a hundred such road stewards. They may issue an official report for four traffic offenses: ignoring a red cross, driving on the hard shoulder, standing still on the hard shoulder and trucks with an excessive load.
Collisions with road inspectors
In the past year, eleven official cars of road inspectors were also hit on the road to protect an incident, most of which was totaled loss. All road inspectors got off alive in these cases. In 2019 it concerned seven vehicles. In about half of the cases there were red crosses above the road.
So-called crash absorbers and arrow wagons, which are used for security during road works and incidents, are also regularly hit. In 2020, 22 such vehicles were hit, almost as many as the year before.