During a check carried out on 3 July on the A3 motorway, the Grand Ducal Police fined 44 drivers using the carpool lane without a passenger. Fifteen months after the lane opened, compliance remains a problem.
The findings speak for themselves. On Friday 3 July, between 4pm and 8pm, six traffic police officers monitored the use of the carpool lane on the A3 between the Berchem service area and the Croix de Gasperich. In four hours, 44 drivers received an on-the-spot fine for travelling alone in a lane reserved for vehicles carrying at least two people, as well as buses. That works out at one offence every five to six minutes, at the height of the evening rush hour.
The bill comes to at least 74 euros per driver, with no penalty points. The Ministry of Mobility made its position clear when the lane opened: there is zero tolerance. For now, compliance is checked by police patrols. A second phase involves installing roadside equipment to monitor use of the lane and penalise offences, though the type of system has not yet been specified.
Phone at the wheel: 250 euros and 4 points
The operation also uncovered a series of other offences. Four drivers were fined for using their phone at the wheel, an offence punished severely since tougher legislation came into force in November 2023: a 250-euro fine and 4 penalty points on the driving licence.
Three drivers were unable to produce their driving licence, which carries an on-the-spot fine of 49 euros. Two vehicles were on the road with an expired tax disc, an offence costing 74 euros. More serious still, two vehicles had no valid roadworthiness certificate: a 145-euro fine and 2 penalty points. Four vehicles carried non-compliant number plates (49 euros), and five showed technical defects affecting tyres, glazing or lights, shortcomings that lead to an on-the-spot fine or a formal notice requiring the faults to be fixed.
A lane in service since March 2025
The carpool lane opened on 23 March 2025 together with the first section of the A3 widened to two-times-three lanes, between the Croix de Gasperich and the Berchem service area. It occupies the left-hand lane and operates around the clock. It is open to vehicles carrying at least two people, as well as buses, though carpoolers are not obliged to use it. The speed limit is 90 km/h, reduced to 70 km/h at peak times. In the direction from Berchem towards the Croix de Gasperich, an additional bus lane has also been created on the hard shoulder.
Placing the carpool lane on the left, unlike other examples in the Greater Region such as the stretch between Arlon and Sterpenich, reflects operational logic: it avoids conflicts with motorway entries and exits, which are on the right, and keeps traffic in the reserved lane flowing.
The government’s stated aim is twofold: to ease congestion on a route used daily by tens of thousands of cross-border commuters, and to encourage ride-sharing, at a time when average car occupancy in Luxembourg hovers around 1.2 people per vehicle. The figures from the 3 July operation show that the message has not yet reached every driver. The police say checks will continue at regular intervals.
