Vias: ‘Traffic accidents cost Belgium €11 billion annually’

According to the traffic safety institute Vias, traffic accidents in Belgium cost eleven billion euros annually. The institute calculated that every road death costs seven million euros and every seriously injured person costs 700,000 euros. Vias’ study was based on the number of accidents in 2022.

VIAS added up the cost of suffering caused by all accidents. The center looked at victim-related costs, such as medical costs, accident costs, and loss of production. In addition, damage to vehicles and infrastructure, traffic jams leading to productivity loss, administration costs for emergency services, insurance, and funeral costs were also examined.

‘Murder’

“In 2023, 501 people lost their lives in traffic; 76 of them were children under the age of 25,” says An Vandeborne of Parents of Accidented Children-SAVE. Last year, more than 45,000 people were injured in Belgian traffic.

On World Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims, every third Sunday of November, the road safety association Heroes for Zero advocated the criminal code to include ‘manslaughter on the road’ for drivers who have caused a road death while under the influence. They consider it a ‘murder’ committed.

Heroes for Zero

The Heroes For Zero association believes road safety legislation must be urgently amended. The perpetrators-drivers may no longer be tried under the heading of ‘simple’  involuntary manslaughter but must be tried for ‘manslaughter on the road.’

Classifying drunk driving accidents as ‘road homicide’ would provide a “fairer judicial response to these tragedies” and “make the public more aware of the responsibility we all bear in traffic,” said Bertrand Heymans of Heroes For Zero. In Belgium, drivers are still not punished sufficiently.

World Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims

To commemorate the traffic victims, the non-profit organization Rondpunt organized a memorial moment on Sunday, November 17th, in Herent, Flemish Brabant. Traffic was stopped for one minute for each victim.