NSFW With Dutch Spy Box, Go To Jail

by Bertel Schmitt

November 17th, 2009 10:02 AM

Dutch motorists can prepare themselves for spending up to four years in the slammer and to pay fines of more than $100,000 if they intend to tamper with the automotive equivalent of an electronic ankle bracelet which their government will put in their cars.

Dutch lawmakers approved the first “pay-as-you-drive” tax system in Europe. Beginning in 2012, Dutch motorists will pay approximately 3 Euro-Cent per driven kilometer, until 2018, the amount will rise to 6.7 Cent. The actual costs vary according to size and engine of the car. The distance driven will be measured by a GPS gizmo, which will become mandatory for most cars registered in the Netherlands.

When we reported this a few days ago, the TTAC commentariat came up with some ingenious methods to disable the “Spionagekastje” (“spy box,”) as the gizmo is now called in the land of cheese and tulips. The Dutch government in Den Haag doesn’t appreciate such ingenuity. According to Das Autohaus, draconian punishment will be meted out if the gizmo is being tampered with.

If the box gives up its ghost, and the failure is not reported immediately to the authorities, it can cost up to $27,000 and half a year behind bars. If the failure has been reported and the box has not been fixed or replaced within three weeks, steep fines are due. Non-payment can result in a loss of driver’s license and car registration. If the box is disabled or tampered with, for instance with the GPS Jammer suggested by Bill Wade, fines of up to $111,000 and up to four years in jail await.

#BertelSchmitt #Fines #Government #Jail #Nedtherlands #RoadTax

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6 of 20 comments

Martin Albright on Nov 17, 2009
Simple. The Netherlands can’t tax miles driven outside the country, hence the use of a GPS instead of an odometer check. I'm not familiar with the Constitution of the Netherlands, but if they're like any other government they can tax anything they damn well please. Even if the intent of the GPS was to prevent taxing for miles driven outside the country (a dubious assertion, it seems to me) then there are ways to deal with that. For example, they could do a study showing that, on average, Dutch motorists do 79% of their driving in the country. So take KMs driven X tax rate X .79 and there's your tax. Or, much more simply, adjust the tax rate, so if the "use rate" should be 1 EU per KM, charge .79 Euro per KM instead. Using a complex, expensive, tamper-prone GPS system to determine something as simple as distance driven is like using a seige gun to kill a gnat. Makes no sense, unless the true intent is something else, like monitoring location, speed, compliance with traffic regs, etc.

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- Charly on Nov 18, 2009
  
  Taking an average like that isn't really good. Somebody in Amsterdam (100 miles from the boarder) wont drive as many miles outside of the Netherlands than somebody in Maastricht (on the boarder). There is also the issue of the EU as it is a much closer union than the United States of America. They probably don't allow taxing out of state consumption, something the much more sovereign American States can get away from.
  
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TonyJZX on Nov 17, 2009

in theory i don't have a problem with this where I am it costs about a weeks wages to register a car... more if you have a big heavy v8 or SUV soooo... given the choice i might go for a user pays system for certain cars... eg. you might have a weekend Miata or something... if you do a per mile charge it might end up being less than a flat rate you might do a flat rate for a Honda station wagon daily driver and a per mile rate for your V8 Mustang. BUT i assume these communists in clogs are going for a yearly registration fee AND a per mile gps rate... that is a double bite of the cherry!

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- Charly on Nov 18, 2009
  
  Cars from before 1987 are tax exempt so your Mustang would be tax exempted
  
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Wijnandv on Nov 19, 2009

Here, in the Netherlands the majority of people is in favor of this scheme just because it is more fair. A few points, Yes, taxing fuel is easier, however, doesn't allow to differentiate for times and roads. The whole idea is to make it more expensive on busy roads and peak hours, Why, you ask? where and when demands is highest, prices go up. This a capitalism in action. Stockholm had great success with it. In the Netherlands, government is not this distant Washington bureaucracy with black helicopters, but far more comparable to your state government. This means trust is higher. We do not reach the general levels of governmental distrust seen is the US. That make us less apprehensive. And maybe rightly so. So, you pay for what you get, more capitalist, and proven effective in other countries reducing congestion. What seems to be the problem? Let me help you: privacy issues can be a problem, so we'll keep a keen eye on how that is secured. It is not there yet.

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Accs on Dec 08, 2009

Big Brother much?!

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