It's always a special moment when you're driving on the A2 motorway near Amsterdam at 7:00 p.m. You know that the speed limit is already 130 km/h, but you still prefer to wait until someone else gives the go-ahead. Because what if your watch is wrong? And are you allowed to drive 130 if you're “logged in” in the measuring ring while you're still allowed to drive 100? We have a definitive answer to all of these questions: it doesn't matter much.
The fact is that section checks in the Netherlands are temporarily suspended between 6:55 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. on motorways where the speed limit changes. This also applies to the change in the morning: between 05:55 and 06:05, section control does not measure your speed. The so-called amnesty period already exists, and a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office confirmed to Top Gear that these ten minutes of leniency will continue with the new section checks.
Nine new section examinations
A tender process is currently underway in the Netherlands to test the new track. The system will be replaced with a new system on nine motorways. The section controls on N-roads will not be replaced. When replaced, section checks will be completely suspended, but it is not yet known when this will happen. The prosecutor's office told Top Gear: “The tender for this is still ongoing, so we cannot say much about any changes.”
These two division checks disappear and will not return.
The attentive reader knows that we have more than nine inspection stations in the Netherlands. Or rather: were. The control of the section on the A58 and A12 near The Hague has now been completely decommissioned. The public prosecutor's office confirms: 'The contracts for all systems had to be extended, and it was decided not to do so for the section control systems that were not being replaced. That is why they have already been decommissioned.
Many speed cameras in the Netherlands are also being replaced.
At least 526 old speed cameras in the Netherlands also need to be replaced. At present, 117 new speed cameras are already in operation and are currently being repaired at 47 locations. When a speed camera is replaced, it may not flash for a maximum of six weeks. But don’t assume that: in some cases, the new speed camera is activated again after a few days. “The replacement process is expected to last until the first half of 2025,” says a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office.
