Don't stray in Luxembourg
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by Derren Hayes • Drivers are being warned not to stray from motorways when travelling through Luxembourg because police are rigorously enforcing a new law restricting routes.
One driver had his lorry impounded and was told if he didn't pay a £120 fine within 48 hours the vehicle would be sold.
The driver for Quickfreight Services, based at Queens Head in Shropshire, was on his way to Belgium when he turned off the E25 to refuel at a service station.
Last year Luxembourg introduced a law restricting lorries to driving on designated main routes when travelling through the country to other European destinations.
When he pulled into the service station to refuel he was stopped by police and told he'd broken the law by turning off the motorway. His keys were confiscated and the police drove the vehicle back to the station where it was impounded. Quickfreight buys its fuel from a French diesel company called AS24 which opened the service station two miles off the motorway after getting assurances that lorries could use it.
Quickfreight's driver was delayed four hours before AS24 agreed to pay the fine and he says a number of drivers from other countries have suffered the same problems.
"It's going to cost us hundreds of pounds a month because we'll have to use a more expensive service station now," says Quickfreight managing director John Reynolds.
"The police are acting like fascists," says Reynolds. "They aren't justified in doing this. What would happen if a driver had to leave the motorway for a maintenance or medical problem?"
Quickfreight runs 13 vehicles on international work for German haulier Westermann—they have been told that AS24 is talking to police in a bid to sort out the problem.