The Netherlands is struggling to enforce a ban on trucks and buses crossing a crucial but weakened bridge, with violators running into the thousands, most of them with foreign plates that can’t be fined.
The Merwedebrug, which carries the A27 highway, and is a key link between coastal areas and the interior was closed to truck traffic on July 18 after engineers determined that the bridge’s steel arches are not as strong as previously believed. The ban is on vehicles over 3.5 tons.
The Rijkswaterstaat, the agency responsible for the bridge, has been relying on automated cameras for enforcement, but the automated system is only able to enforce those tickets for Dutch drivers because European laws don’t extend to others unless police stop them on the spot. New agreements with Belgium, Germany and Switzerland go into effect next month, covering drivers from those countries.
Plans are underway for new bridges to replace the weakened structure, but in the meantime, the question remains: why aren’t police simply able to stop the illegal traffic at the bridge?
Image: DaMatriX/Wikimedia Commons
