“At first I thought he was joking”: a young driver runs a red light and receives a fine of 19 million euros

En grillant un feu rouge, le jeune homme ne se doutait pas du montant de la facture qu'il allait recevoir.  MAXPPP – Richard Villalon

After a road check last August which earned him a fine of around 1,000 euros, a 20-year-old young man from Niel in Belgium was surprised to receive a new one.. . with legal costs amounting to 19 million euros.

As reported by 7sur7.be, the 20 year old boy was returning from a day in Paris last August, when he committed a traffic offense around three in the morning. When he ran a red light, he had no idea what bill he would receive next. 

During the check, inspectors found four violations in total. The young man was traveling at night, with a provisional permit and without an escort. He had just run a red light and the "L" supposed to be affixed to his vehicle, was not visible. The police then decided that the young driver would appear before the Kortrijk police court and fined him 960 euros.

"He sent me a photo via WhatsApp"

On January 30, the young man finally received the letter containing the fine. Her father explains: "He also told me that he didn’t think he could pay her. Why, I asked. Because the legal costs amount to 19 million euros. At first I thought he was joking, but he sent me a photo via WhatsApp.

The boy's family then immediately contacted the Federal Public Service (FPS) Finance which had sent the compensation request: ;"I called eight times, but got no answer. I then contacted my lawyer who assured me that it was an error. Today I called the Kortrijk police court, but even there, despite their surprise, they could not immediately explain what had happened.

An error on the floor

Finally Francis Adyns, spokesperson for the FPS Finances, explained'it was an administrative error:&quot ;A human error occurred on the floor. The date of service of the police court judgment, namely 12/19/2023, was entered in error by the bailiff in the registry fees box. So the system read 19-12 as 19 million. The FPS Finance will make the correction and send a corrected invitation to pay.

Relieved, the young man's father declared to 7sur7.be: "Seriously, mistakes like this shouldn't happen . A bailiff could very well have appeared on my doorstep.