The Public Prosecution Service has revoked hundreds of fines for calling and appending motorists who have been registered with their phone in hand by a smart camera at Mijdrecht. The fines stated that the violation had been committed at Veenendaal.
A spokeswoman for the Central Processing Prosecutor’s Office says the camera has photographed motorists for two weeks holding a phone in their hand. The cameras automatically forward photographed violations to the Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB), which then sends the driver a fine of € 240. In this case, only the wrong place was recorded and the fines are therefore invalid.
The smart cameras have been active since November 16. “We have only just started, so something can go wrong. We learn from this,” said the spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service. Officially, the Public Prosecution Service may correct the error by sending new fines with a correct place name, but the Public Prosecution Service found that ‘not so neat’ in this initial phase.
The Netherlands is the first country in Europe to use mobile cameras. According to the OM, the cameras work day and night and in all weather conditions. Moreover, they are easy to move. The system can therefore be deployed elsewhere every day. In addition, the smart cameras are not reported by the widely used Flitsmeister app. The company considered it ‘ethically irresponsible’ to warn drivers who appert themselves.