Mechelen cancels 60 fines issued to drivers following police diversion

UPDATED 24 AUGUST 2026, 16:00 CEST — Mechelen

Place

Mechelen

City where the diversion occurred and the affected traffic fines were cancelled.

Why it matters

City where the diversion occurred and the affected traffic fines were cancelled.

About

Mechelen is a city and municipality in the province of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Mechelen proper, some quarters at its outskirts, the hamlets of Nekkerspoel (adjacent) and Battel, as well as the villages of Walem, Heffen, Leest, Hombeek, and Muizen. The city is often referred to as the Dijlestad as the river Dyle (Dijle) flows through it.

Official site ↗View source record ↗

Emergency services were called at about 20:00 to a fire behind a townhouse near the Brusselpoort, according to Het Nieuwsblad. Police temporarily closed Koningin Astridlaan so firefighters could work and instructed approaching motorists to turn back towards a service road.

That route took the vehicles through a traffic filter, where the passages were registered as violations. Rivierenland police spokesperson Dirk Van de Sande attributed the resulting fines to a breakdown between the officers managing the incident and the subsequent administrative processing. The police put the affected group at approximately 60 motorists.

The confirmed remedy requires no objection or refund request from the drivers. Van de Sande said the case files will be closed, payments already made will be returned automatically and GAS Rivierenland will write to everyone concerned. Neither the police nor the municipal service has publicly specified the value of each fine or how many recipients had paid before the error was identified.

The episode illustrates how camera-supported enforcement can continue processing vehicle movements after temporary instructions on the street have changed the normal route. Mechelen’s official GAS4 regulation states that traffic fines are generated at the start of the administrative procedure. A 2024 city council answer explains that an official may later halt collection when an error is found in a file.

For affected motorists, the immediate message is straightforward: do not pay this particular fine and wait for the written confirmation from GAS Rivierenland. Those who have already paid should monitor the account used for payment. The authorities have announced the cancellations and refunds but have not said when the letters or repayments will arrive, or what procedural change will prevent another emergency diversion from triggering the same problem.