Belgian Low Emission Zone in Cities! Urgent help needed!

[Return2thebasic]

We are 8 days into the holiday. Staying in a holiday house in Brussels, while having travelled into different cities including Antwerp.

Only today, when DH was looking up for traveling information to a museum in Ghent, their website highlighted about the low emission zone.

Now we are in a panic state - haven't registered our car before entering the cities and we can't register now either, as they all require owner's vehicle registration document which we obviously don't carry around with us when travel to another country (or should we???).

So on their LEZ official websites, they all state really seriously that you need to register with them "before" entering LEZ, or a fine (£150 for 1st offence, £250 for repeated offence) will be issued. UK driver shall expect Belgian bailiff if not pay off.

WTF! I mean how many foreign tourist would be aware of this? Google navigation usually is really good at warning like this in London, but nothing marked in our entire journey. Those city officials say they've put up signs across the city, but neither DH nor me have spotted/noticed any (or may be the signs are just not eye-catching???)

Anyone has similar experience? Will we end up with >£1000 fine? - have been travelling in and out these cities everyday!

Ridiculously, we can't even register even if we found out the first day -as we don't have the right document with us to do so!!! Help!!!

My understanding is you get fined once - but for each city - then they won't fine you again for 3 months. You are also legally supposed to have your registration document and MOT etc with you when driving in Belgium. Can you use public transport for the rest of the trip? It's fabulous and cheap. Do you have the other legally required stuff? Warning triangle, reflective vests etc?

I registered us when we parked in Ghent, so definitely after having entered, but on the same day. We dis have the V5. Our car was too awful even to be allowed to register for Brussels!

@MissAmbrosia , thanks.

We contacted the Brussels side and got a vague answer directing "just register as soon as you can". Well , will have to be when we get home next week.

A reply from Antwerp side is clearer. They emphasised again it's our obligation to be familiar with requirements like this (we don't disagree, but still no clue how it could be easy. I've read UK government website for travelling to Europe, nothing mentioned about LEZ. Neither did the Eurotunnel website.)

But the Antwerp team told us to send them a record once we register and they will date it back to the day when we first entered. So we will see...

I'd like to try public transport, but the wet weather (been having thunderstorms nearly every other day) and the much longer journey via public transport aren't helping. Plan to go to Antwerp tomorrow. Probably will drive to the outer ring and take public transport from there.

By the way, we do have the triangle and high Vis vest, as DH had done research a few years ago. But things have evolved since, like the more commonly seen LEZ.

V5C never came across as something needed. But I saw it on Eurotunnel 's website today. I guess we really missed that one.