Drivers who speed on motorways where the limit is 130 kph are being fined, even if they are driving just 1 kph too fast, according to research by the AD.

In total, 250,000 fines have been issued to drivers breaking the limit by 1 kph since 2012, generating almost €5m for the treasury, the paper said.

The current fine for breaking the limit by such a tiny amount is €11 plus €9 in administration costs.

A further 165,000 fines were issued to drivers who broke the limit by 2 kph and 120,000 for drivers travelling 3 kph too fast – taking a margin of error into account. In total, the micro speeding offences have generated €12m in income for the government, the AD said.

Police union chief Gerrit van de Kamp told the paper he is concerned that the fines for such minor offences are damaging support for speeding tickets in general. ‘This would appear to be more about generating cash for the treasury than maintaining the law,’ he said.

Last December, the national statistics office CBS said three-quarters of the Netherlands’ 9,000 Tesla drivers had picked up a speeding ticket in 2017, the highest proportion of any car brand.

In addition, nearly two-thirds of plug-in hybrid cars had been fined at least once for speeding, showing that green car drivers are by far the most likely to go too fast on the Dutch roads.

Speed limits on Dutch roads can range from 130 kph to 30 kph.