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Driving

Luxembourg drivers avoid points after radar mishap

Error meant point deductions were not issued in around 11,000 cases, state IT centre says

A failure to fully reset the system after technical tests were carried out last year meant that the radar devices did not issue point deductions © Photo credit: Guy Jallay

Motorists across Luxembourg have avoided collecting points on their driving licence for traffic offences on 11,000 occasions over the past year due to an IT glitch, the Government IT Centre has said.

Driving offences picked up by automatic radar devices on the country's roads normally incur a fine of €145, as well as the loss of points.

However, teams from the state IT centre, Centre des technologies de l'information de l'Etat (CTIE), forgot to reset parameters on the IT system which had been changed during technical tests carried out in September 2022, RTL reported on Monday.

The error meant that while fines continued to be issued, no points were deducted from a driver's licence. Only offences not picked up by the automatic radars, such as using a mobile phone while driving, were forwarded for points deductions.

An estimated 22,000 points failed to be deducted in around 11,000 cases, said Patrick Housch, the director of the CTIE.

The mishap was the result of a "stupid mistake", Housch told the Luxemburger Wort.

The CTIE was notified of the glitch at the start of October by a driver who informed officials that they had received a fine but no points deduction. The error was rectified within a day, Housch said.

Points will only be retroactively deducted from motorists who paid a fine after 22 September, the Ministry of Mobility told RTL, with the legal deadline for imposing points having expired in all other cases.

(This story was first published by the Luxemburger Wort. Translation and editing by John Monaghan)