VRT Pano: ‘Alcohol and drugs related traffic deaths but hardly any controls’

According to Flemish public broadcaster VRT, more than 40% of traffic accidents that happen during weekend nights are linked to alcohol or drugs. Pano’s research also shows that it is precisely at these high-risk moments that far too few checks are carried out in Flanders.

However, the most recent VIAS statistical report on Traffic Accidents 2023 shows that in ten years, the number of drivers checked rose by 18%, and the number of drunk drivers caught fell by 15% in Belgium. The number of accidents involving alcohol also decreased by 14%. In 2023, 7% of drivers in accidents blew positive compared to 10% ten years ago.

No exact figures on the number of checks

Pano, a current affairs program based on investigative journalism, does not contradict the results of the VIAS research, but it does state that in Belgium, there “is no clear picture of the total number of alcohol and drug controls in traffic.” As a result, targeted action is lacking, and the greatest risk areas are insufficiently protected.

Thanks to VIAS and Stabel, there are extensive figures on the number of alcohol-related accidents, says Pano, but there are no figures on the exact number of alcohol checks. Unless you fall back on figures from the BOB campaigns, which last about five months a year, and there are no figures available for the other seven months.

According to Stef Willems of VIAS, only the police know how much is checked outside the BOB campaigns. “Those figures are zone by zone and are not registered centrally,” Willems said in a reaction on vrt.news. “As a result, no one in our country knows how often drivers who have had too much to drink behind the wheel are checked.”

More accidents involving alcohol during weekend nights

Despite the hopeful figures cited above, however, the research by Pano, Stabel, and the UGent shows that during weekend nights, the number of accidents involving alcohol in Flanders and Brussels has even increased slightly in recent years.

In 2023, there were 626 alcohol-related accidents during weekend nights in Flanders and Brussels. That’s more than 12 per weekend. Also alarming: alcohol or drugs are involved in more than 40% of accidents during weekend nights.

Moreover, the chance of an alcohol-related accident varies significantly by province. The chance of an alcohol-related accident in certain Eastern and Western Flemish districts, for example, is more than twice as high as in the regions of Antwerp and Mechelen, with peaks during weekend nights.

And that is precisely where the problem lies. According to VIAS, to effectively reduce the risk of drunk driving, 34% of all alcohol checks must take place during the weekend nights. From the figures of the BOB campaigns, it appears that since the end of 2022, only 6 of the 113 police districts in Flanders and Brussels have achieved this 34%.

Least checks in the worst offender province

None of the provinces even comes close to the 34% target, and certainly not West Flanders, which is the worst offender province: only 8.3% of alcohol checks take place during weekend nights. The proportion of alcohol-related accidents is nevertheless nowhere in Flanders higher than in the West Flemish district of Veurne.

Even the complete figures from the federal road police show that hardly any checks are made on weekend nights. Moreover, the number of checks—the federal road police only checks on the freeways—has also decreased sharply due to a shortage of personnel.

The TV report ‘Pano: On the Road Under Influence’ can be watched tonight at 9:55 p.m. on VRT 1 and VRT Max.