Reckless driving in the Netherlands to earn penalties with new point system

A penalty point system for driving offences is set to be introduced soon in the Netherlands. Reckless drivers who rack up several penalty points in a year will be monitored more closely by Dutch police. 

The Netherlands to launch point system for driving offences

The Dutch police, Public Prosecution Service (OM) and the Ministry of Justice and Security recently told RTL Nieuws of plans to introduce a new penalty point system for unsafe driving. The aim of the point system would be to stop repeat offences on Dutch roads, especially among groups of drivers who ignore traffic fines, penalties or driving bans.

Under the point system, any driver caught by police for a traffic offence such as texting while driving or not wearing a seat belt will receive a penalty point with their fine. More serious violations that are taken up with the justice system, such as causing a serious accident, driving under the influence or getting behind the wheel without a driving licence, will receive two or three penalty points. Any violations caught by speed cameras will not earn penalty points.

Once a driver has six penalty points in one year, they are placed on a list of repeat offenders. While it is still being debated what the exact approach will be after repeat offenders have been identified, some ideas include tracking problem drivers with smart cameras through their licence plates and sending them for mandatory courses with the Central Bureau for Driving Licences (CBR). Whatever the end approach is towards offenders, the police will “actively seek them out”.

Repeat traffic offenders often responsible for road accidents

"Research shows that people who regularly fail to follow the rules are often responsible for accidents," traffic officer at the Public Prosecution Service Achilles Damen told RTL Nieuws. Based on figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) from 2025, around 30.000 drivers in the Netherlands would have accumulated six or more penalty points last year.

The majority of these offenders were young men, while only 5 percent were women. "We would rather not have those people on the road, because that simply causes road unsafety," said the project leader for the police Frits Lindeman.

Discussions are still taking place about enforcement of the points system, during which privacy-related concerns, which have been raised about the tracking of drivers, will be addressed. If all goes to plan, the penalty point system could be implemented by the end of this year.