Enforcement
How can sanctions be imposed?
Most of the recorded traffic offences in the Netherlands are dealt with according to what is known as the Mulder Law. This law makes it possible to impose a sanction on the owner of the vehicle via its registration number, whether or not the owner has personally committed the offence. In a demerit points system, however, the sanction is personal: only by halting an offender in traffic can demerit points be imposed on the person who actually committed the offence. A situation in which on the supervision of compliance is limited and drivers estimate the chance of being caught as slight, has the danger that motorists continue to drive without a driving licence when their driving licence has been temporarily or permanently withdrawn,. There is also the risk that they fail to stop after a crash. Increased and noticeable police enforcement would then have to increase both the absolute and subjective chance of being caught.
