Brussels police seize car of dangerous driver for the first time

Brussels police have for the first time confiscated the car of a driver because he’d endangered other road users.

Under Belgian legislation, police can administratively seize a vehicle when a driver has endangered the life of another person or endangered their physical integrity with his or her vehicle, but the law is seldomly used.

On Friday, the driver in question had overtaken a school bus on the left in the rue Chaumontel in Schaerbeek, which is situated close to two schools. The driver then sped towards a crosswalk, almost crashing into the children who had just gotten off the bus.

A police car that had been driving behind the car immediately pulled over the driver and asked for his license and registration. The driver, it turned out, did not have a valid driver's license.

“The situation did not allow for the vehicle to legally be seized, but it did meet the requirements for an administrative confiscation,” police chef Frédéric Dauphin told Bruzz.

He added that police officers had increased their efforts to combat the dangerous driving habits of some Brussels drivers in the last two years. “Some drivers haven’t gotten the message and haven’t responded to these actions,” he said. “That’s why – like other police zones – we were inspired to use the administrative confiscation procedure.”

Photo: Belga / Wim Kempenaers

Written by Linda A. Thompson