A majority in the Dutch parliament (the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Netherlands' legislature) has passed a motion calling on the government to abandon planned increases to traffic fines, which the cabinet had sought to raise by 2.7% in line with inflation. Critics, including the Council of State — the government's top advisory body — argued the increases are not clearly "necessary, proportionate, or justified," while the judiciary warned that doubled penalties for non-payment could push citizens into serious financial hardship. The vote reflects long-running tensions over fines that prosecutors, researchers, and enforcement agencies have repeatedly described as disproportionately high and increasingly used as a budgetary tool rather than a road-safety measure.