For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
By Colonel Panic
#1686837
OCB wrote:These are entirely local legislation...

It is all going to get desperately complicated over the next few years; with such zones being on a per-city basis it is going to require a load of prior knowledge and pre-registrations. :?

ANPR camera operators are in for a field day €€€€€€
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By stevelup
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1686850
There really needs to be some kind of central database.

My car is exempt from London congestion charging zone but I still had to pay a tenner and send in a scan of my V5 and stuff. Surely there must be an electronic way of just checking the emissions / EURO category.
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By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1686853
European drivers are a little bit more...how shall I say it...reactionary and demonstrative of their dislike of automated cash making cameras. Every other camera I pass in France/Belgium/Holland has either been spray painted, bagged, burned or shot (seriously!!). I suspect a short life for any automated system dishing out a 150-500 Euro fine.

If the first I knew about something was a 500+ Euro fine I think I might be severely temped to turn a little French myself... :shock:

Regards, SD..
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By OCB
#1686872
The gripe I have with the Belgian LEZ is the necessity for pre-registering, and the subsequent automagic fines, even if you don’t actually contravene the emissions laws.

The much touted European ideal of “free movement” would have you believe you can drive from the west of Ireland to the eastern edge of Bulgaria unhindered.

I’ve challenged this ruling locally. The response is that local laws over-rule European law, and that indeed local laws clearly have priority.

So, if you drive past a vaguely unrecognisable and non standard road sign - you could end up with a several hundred to 1000+ euro fine.

My advice to everyone- do not visit Belgium by road without having legal advice.
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By T67M
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1686878
I believe foreign drivers using their vehicles in the London ULEZ have to pre-register in a very similar way to that being proposed in Belgium.
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By OCB
#1686884
So, the logical conclusion is a central register of European land vehicles, their emission band - and consistent low emissions legislation?
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By HowardC
#1686890
I must offer my thanks to OCB and others here for alerting me to the different LEZ's in Belgium. It made me check LEZ's and "Special Sticker" cities in Europe and I see I'm nowhere near up-to-date with them. The map of Europe is covered with them!

However, I've just found this interesting and potentially helpful site:- https://www.green-zones.eu/en.html

It is a commercial site originating in Germany which charges a fee to register your vehicle and/or issue a sticker for whatever LEZ or "Special Sticker" city you might plan to drive through in pretty much any European country. They have an App which looks really useful too.

Of couse,I've not used them in ernest yet but I certainly will visit their site before I plan my next European driving trip. I saw a price of €19 for registration and assume that goes up for multiple areas/countries but it seems a reasonable fee to pay them to get it right.
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By HowardC
#1686892
OCB "So, the logical conclusion is a central register of European land vehicles, their emission band - and consistent low emissions legislation?"

Agreed.

It looks like https://www.green-zones.eu/en.html is trying to achieve at least a central resource for road users to go to instead of needing multiple sites to register on.
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By OCB
#1686894
Funnily enough, in my “case for the defence” I already noted that company.

They make it outstanding clear that you have to buy a vignette to drive in Brussels - when you buy from them for a simple 19.99 eur payment.

Except the actual register of foreign vehicles coming into Brussels is free.
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By OCB
#1686908
Colonel Panic wrote:
OCB wrote:The gripe I have with the Belgian LEZ is the necessity for pre-registering, and the subsequent automagic fines, even if you don’t actually contravene the emissions laws.

The FAQs say you can register / pay within 24 hours of entering, so it can be done after the event.

https://www.slimnaarantwerpen.be/en/lez/FAQ


That’s not the case for Brussels.

You pass the border without pre-register, it’s a 150 fine euro at minimum. At worst it could be quite a lot higher...imagine you are on a trip with an original Jag E type.

Feel free to go to the various EU,Belgian, Region Bruxelles sites to try and figure out what you should do and possibly have stuck to your window.
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By HowardC
#1686963
Flyin'Dutch'....
I've looked at the Antwerp LEZ and it seems to show that you can use the ring road that goes north to Breda and beyond. The alternate route via the R2 and Liefkenshoektunnel in any case looks like it stays well clear of the LEZ. You'll know there's a small toll to pay but I seem to remember it's around €6 which I felt worth paying on my last trip to avoid the tail back queues on the E19

As for the site... https://www.green-zones.eu/en.html , I had wondered whether their App, in specific circumstances like those for Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels, could at least alert a driver to the actual area of the LEZ so that if the journey definitely took you into it then the "fine" could be avoided by doing the registration process yourself for free rather than having that company pay for it. I might be tempted to do just a "one-off" but would consider multiple LEZ's, or places needing a special sticker would be best left to them and pay for it.
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By HowardC
#1686964
I wonder if this whole " LEZ / Special Sticker / avoiding particular days " thing can be likened to flying where we plan in advance of a trip to avoid certain bits of airspace and plan a route around it or even plan to fly through an area and get "Clearance" :)
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