Speeding in Belgium: fines, driving bans and your defence

Speeding is the most common traffic offence in Belgium. Almost every driver faces it at some point: a speed camera photo in the letterbox, an average speed check on the way to work, or a police officer with a laser gun at the side of the road. In most cases the matter ends with a fine. But if you were driving far too fast, you will have to explain yourself before the police court judge and you risk a driving ban (déchéance du droit de conduire).

How serious the consequences are depends on three things: by how much you exceeded the limit, where it happened and whether you have been convicted before. Your driving experience matters too. If you have held your licence for less than two years, a conviction almost always leads to a driving ban with an exam.

In this article you will find the speed limits, how the police measure your speed, what a fine costs since 1 July 2026, when you are summoned to court and which defences are possible. For each point, we refer you to a more detailed article.

Which speed limits apply in Belgium?

The maximum speeds are still set out today in Article 11 of the Highway Code (Code de la route, Royal Decree of 1 December 1975). Since the sixth state reform, the Regions set some of the limits themselves. The speed limit outside built-up areas therefore depends on whether you are driving in Flanders, Brussels or Wallonia.

Location	Flanders	Brussels	Wallonia
Built-up area	50 km/h	30 km/h (unless signs say otherwise)	50 km/h
30 zone and school surroundings	30 km/h	30 km/h	30 km/h
Residential area and shared zone	20 km/h	20 km/h	20 km/h
Outside built-up areas	70 km/h (unless 90 is signposted)	90 km/h	90 km/h
Motorway and dual carriageway with central reservation	120 km/h	120 km/h	120 km/h

A road sign can always impose a different limit. Lower maximum speeds apply to lorries, buses, vehicles towing a trailer and mopeds.

On top of the fixed limits, you have a general duty to adapt your speed to the circumstances: the weather, visibility, traffic density, the condition of the road and the presence of vulnerable road users (Article 10 of the Highway Code). You can break this rule without exceeding the speed limit, for example by driving at 90 km/h in thick fog. After an accident, Article 10 plays a major role in deciding who is liable.

The new Public Road Code (Code de la voie publique) enters into force on 1 June 2027. Until then, the current rules and article numbers continue to apply. See our article on the new Belgian road code.

How do the police measure your speed?

The police use several devices:

• the fixed automatic speed camera, which works on its own and takes a photo;
• the mobile speed camera with an operator, a camera in or next to a police vehicle, handled by an officer;
• the average speed check (section control), which calculates your average speed between two or more cameras;
• the laser gun or hand-held radar, usually with an interception team further down the road.

Every device must be type-approved and calibrated in accordance with the Royal Decree of 12 October 2010 on measuring devices used in traffic. The officer using it must have been trained.

The measuring margin

No device measures perfectly. That is why the police deduct a technical margin from the measured speed. The result is called the corrected speed. The fine is calculated on that speed.

Measured speed	Margin	Example
Up to and including 100 km/h	6 km/h	82 km/h measured becomes 76 km/h
Above 100 km/h	6%	173 km/h measured becomes 162.62 km/h

This margin follows from the circular of the Board of Prosecutors General (COL 11/2006) and the annexes to the Royal Decree of 11 October 1997. The police report (procès-verbal) states both the measured speed and the corrected speed.

How much weight does a speed camera photo carry?

A police report recording a speeding offence has special evidential value (Article 62 of the Road Traffic Act, loi relative à la police de la circulation routière). What the officer or the approved device recorded stands until proven otherwise. You must therefore come up with concrete evidence, not merely raise a doubt. How do you go about it? Read our article on how to contest a speed camera fine.

How much does a speeding fine cost?

For a speeding offence that is not too serious, the police or the public prosecutor (parquet) offer an immediate payment: a fixed amount that you pay, usually after receiving a letter. If you pay, the case is closed without a conviction. The amounts were increased by 10% on 1 July 2026.

Excess	Built-up area, 30 zone, residential or shared zone	Outside built-up areas
First 10 km/h too fast	58 euros	58 euros
Each additional km/h	12 euros	7 euros
Administrative contribution	10.67 euros	10.67 euros

Source: police.be, situation as at 1 July 2026 (contribution: 2026 rate).

Two examples based on these amounts:

• You were driving at a corrected speed of 70 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. You therefore exceeded the limit by 20 km/h: 58 euros for the first 10 km/h and 10 x 12 euros, making 178 euros in total, plus the contribution.
• You were driving at a corrected speed of 115 km/h on a road limited to 90 km/h. You therefore exceeded the limit by 25 km/h: 58 euros and 15 x 7 euros, making 163 euros in total, plus the contribution.

If you do not pay the immediate payment, the public prosecutor offers you an out-of-court settlement (transaction pénale). If that also remains unpaid, the public prosecutor can send you a payment order (ordre de paiement), increased by 35% and with a higher contribution. You can lodge an appeal within 30 days. See our article on the payment order and how to appeal. You will find an overview of all the stages in our article on traffic offences, their degrees and the procedure.

If the case still ends up before the judge, different amounts apply: a fine within a statutory range, multiplied by the surcharge (décimes additionnels). That is the subject of our article on the amount of a fine and the surcharge.

When do you have to appear before the police court judge?

For serious speeding, an immediate payment is not possible. The public prosecutor then summons you to appear before the police court (tribunal de police). That is the case if you exceeded the limit:

• by more than 30 km/h in a built-up area, a 30 zone, near a school, in a residential area or a shared zone;
• by more than 40 km/h on any other road.

It is always the corrected speed that counts. If you were caught at 61 km/h (corrected speed) in a 30 zone, you are just above the threshold.

The public prosecutor can also summon you for a smaller excess, for example if you are a repeat offender, if there was an accident or if you paid neither the immediate payment nor the out-of-court settlement.

Since the reform of 1 September 2026, the penalties in the Road Traffic Act are expressed in penalty levels. Speeding is punished with a level 1 penalty (Article 29, § 3 of that Act). The judge then expressly takes into account how many km/h you were over the limit.

The driving ban for speeding

For a serious excess

If you exceeded the limit by more than 30 km/h in a built-up area, a 30 zone, near a school or in a residential area, or by more than 40 km/h elsewhere, the law provides for a driving ban of at least eight days and at most five years. If the judge does not impose a ban, he or she must explain why. In practice, a ban therefore almost always follows. The judge can also make the return of your licence conditional on passing a theory or practical exam.

For a smaller excess, a driving ban is possible but not compulsory. You will find more on the length, how it is served and the alternatives in our article on serious speeding and the driving ban and in our overview of the driving ban in Belgium.

The ban applies to all motor vehicles: any vehicle in a licence category and also mopeds up to 25 km/h.

Immediate withdrawal of your driving licence

In the case of serious speeding, the public prosecutor can have your licence withdrawn even before the judge rules. This withdrawal in principle lasts 15 days. The police court can extend it up to three months at the request of the public prosecutor. Those days are then deducted from the driving ban. See our article on immediate licence withdrawal.

Young drivers

If you have held your category B licence for less than two years, stricter rules apply (Article 38, § 5 of the Road Traffic Act). If you are convicted of an offence committed with a motor vehicle that can lead to a driving ban, the judge must impose a ban. You only get your licence back after passing a theory or practical exam. This also applies to speeding that is not serious, as soon as it comes before the judge.

Repeat offences

If you are convicted of serious speeding less than three years after an earlier final judgment, the cross-recidivism rule of Article 38, § 6 of the Act applies. An earlier conviction for driving under the influence, hit-and-run, driving without a licence or driving without insurance also counts. The consequence: a compulsory driving ban of at least 3, 6 or 9 months and four reinstatement exams (examens de réintégration): theory, practical, medical and psychological. See our article on repeat offences and on the reinstatement exams.

Municipal administrative fine for minor speeding

In Flanders, since 1 February 2021, municipalities can themselves punish minor speeding with a municipal administrative fine (SAC), known as “GAS 5”. They may only do so on roads limited to 30 or 50 km/h, for an excess of no more than 20 km/h, recorded by automatic devices that the municipality finances entirely itself. Police court judges have already cancelled administrative fines after average speed checks that were co-financed by a private company. See our article on average speed checks and the municipal administrative fine.

Caught by a camera, but you were not driving?

If you were not stopped on the spot, the letter goes to the holder of the number plate. The law presumes that the keeper was the driver. You can rebut this presumption, but you must in principle say who was driving. See our article on identifying the driver as the number plate holder.

If you were driving a company car or a lease car, the question goes to the company first. The company must identify the driver. What this means for you and for your employer is explained in our article on a traffic fine with a company car.

How long after the offence can you still receive a fine?

Since 1 July 2026, the authorities have 30 days to send you a copy of the police report. That period only starts to run once it is known who the offender, the owner or the usual driver of the vehicle is. Previously, the period was 14 days from the date of the finding. Late sending does not make the police report void, but it loses its special evidential value.

The prosecution itself becomes time-barred after three years, counted from the day of the offence. Since 1 July 2026, this rule applies to all offences under the Road Traffic Act. Previously, most speeding offences became time-barred after two years. See our article on the limitation period for traffic offences.

Speeding and accidents

Speeding weighs much more heavily if there is an accident. After a fatal accident, since 1 September 2026 the driver is prosecuted for homicide dans le cadre de la circulation (homicide in the context of traffic, Article 107 of the Criminal Code, level 3), often called road homicide. If the accident was accompanied by serious speeding, meaning more than 40 km/h over the limit, or more than 30 km/h in a built-up area, a 30 zone, near a school or in a residential area, the law provides for homicide dans le cadre de la circulation avec circonstances aggravantes (road homicide with aggravating circumstances, Article 107/1, level 4). See our article on road homicide.

Your speed also has consequences under civil law. A driver who was going too fast often bears part of the liability for the accident, even if the other driver failed to give way.

How can you defend yourself against a speeding charge?

A defence only makes sense if there is a concrete argument. In every case, our lawyers examine the following points.

• The measurement. Was an approved and calibrated device used? Are the calibration details in the police report? Do the cone and the ellipse on the photo touch your vehicle, and is no other vehicle visible in the image?
• The margin and the calculation. Was the correct margin deducted, and was the corrected speed correctly compared with the limit that applied at that spot?
• The signs. Where did the 30 zone or the built-up area begin? Was the sign there and visible? A photo of the location can clarify a great deal.
• The driver. Were you driving yourself? Did you, as the number plate holder, respond in time and correctly?
• The police report. Was it sent on time, in the right language, by a competent officer? See our article on errors in the police report.
• The limitation period. Have more than three years passed since the offence without the case being brought before the court?
• The penalty. Even if the offence is proven, the defence makes the difference: a clean criminal record, your job, the circumstances of the journey and your attitude after the offence all weigh on the length of the ban and on the choice of a suspended or weekend ban.

A plea of necessity is rarely accepted. On 4 May 2018, the French-speaking police court of Brussels ruled that a mother collecting her sick child from school had no justification for driving at 88 km/h in a tunnel limited to 50 km/h. According to the judge, the situation had not taken away her free will.

Conclusion

Speeding seems a trivial matter, and for a small excess it is: you pay the immediate payment and the case is closed. Everything changes as soon as you exceed the limit by more than 30 km/h in a built-up area or by more than 40 km/h elsewhere, as soon as you have held your licence for less than two years, or as soon as you are a repeat offender. A summons then follows, and almost always a driving ban.

Have you been summoned to court, or do you have doubts about the measurement or the procedure? Have your case reviewed in good time. We consult the criminal file, check the measurement, the police report and the deadlines, and prepare the hearing with you. You can contact us for an initial consultation.

Frequently asked questions