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More than one Belgian in three admits to not respecting the speed limits. Traffic safety institute, Vias, hopes that the increase in speed cameras and the arrival of extra average speed checks will finally lead to a change in mentality. Speeding […]
In 2019, the Walloon waterways transported 39 million tons of freight. If that amount had been transported on the road, it would’ve required two million trucks. Despite the slight 5,8% drop in activity compared to the last two years due […]
Montreal has ended a pilot project with 680 shared electric e-scooters. The city cites the lack of respect of users for the regulations as the reason for the ban. Montreal didn’t have any fatal or serious accidents with the scooters. […]
After years and numerous demands, Brussels police will finally gain access to the Stib/Mivb security video live feed in June. This new tool will significantly help police forces in their daily peacekeeping routine. Access to other transport operators’ security feed […]
Plug-in hybrids that don’t fulfill the new requirements are much more expensive this year. The fiscal advantage of those lease-cars dwindles: halving of the fiscal deduction percentage, up to four times more benefit of all nature. Fraud use of these […]
Almost a quarter of building contractors do not want to work in the Low-Emission Zones (LEZ) in Ghent, Antwerp, or Brussels. That’s what a survey by the Flemish Construction Federation (VCB) shows. Contractors often do not have vehicles authorized to […]
The Ghent Low-Emission Zone (LEZ) will be extended during this legislature. However, when and in which districts will be thoroughly examined the next few years. The Ghent majority parties confirmed this on Monday during the municipal council. There will be […]
Belgian authorities have set up a new Royal Decree draft on drone operations with new tariffs for registration, licenses, and training, to cite just a few, ranging from 25 to 5 000 euros. Drone pilots see those new, higher tariffs […]
It is still not clear when and if autonomous cars will come on the market. Last year alone, thirty companies invested $16 billion in the technology, with no prospect of a launch date. Consumers are also critical. Executives at General […]
The felling of a part of the German forest in which Tesla’s European giga-factory is to be located has been halted. The environmental movement ‘Grüne Liga Brandenburg’ has gone to court because Tesla already felled trees without a building permit. […]
The city of Antwerp introduces speed limits for speed pedelecs: the maximum speed goes down to 25 km/h, and cycle paths with a double direction will have a dotted line in the middle. Since 2016, the number of accidents involving […]
On January 1st, 2019, Flemish authorities introduced a mandatory ‘return moment’ for all young candidate-drivers, six to nine months after their application for their final driver’s license. The reason for the measure was to reduce the high number of accidents […]
The city of Vilvoorde wants to tackle the nuisance caused by abandoned shared cycles and e-steps. These often come from Brussels and are left by users at the end of the journey at the station and at parks and squares […]
Low-Emission Zones (LEZ) are dividing opinion in Belgium. Their results are not as impressive as many had hoped. The Flemish socialist party sp.a calls them asocial, causing a row with its green coalition partner in Ghent. Are LEZs effective or […]
A motion by the opposition party, Vlaams Belang, to introduce a ‘standstill’ in the area of low-emission zones (LEZ) did not obtain a majority in the Flemish Parliament on Wednesday. However, the doubts about the sense/nonsense of the LEZ also […]
The Flemish Minister for the Budget, Mathias Diependaele (N-VA), starts an investigation about the improper use of the tax advantages attributed to pick-up vehicles. The sales of pick-ups have tripled in the past ten years. This success is mostly due […]
Of the almost 30 000 speed pedelecs registered in Belgium, 40% are leased bicycles. This is apparent from figures collected by CD&V MP, Jef Van den Bergh. In Wallonia, the super-fast e-bikes with pedal assistance up to 45 km/hour have […]
Nissan counter-attacks: last Wednesday, it has started a new procedure before a Japanese civil court and asks 10 billion yen (€83,4 million) compensation payments from its former CEO, Carlos Ghosn. The latter has fled Japan at the end of last […]
The Belgian government is currently discussing the idea of analyzing motorists’ driving behavior to detect accident-prone zones or areas where the speed limit should be lowered. Victor Rouard, a lawyer specialized in privacy, believes such a project could only work […]
Both riders and passengers of light mopeds in The Netherlands will be forced to wear a helmet. The Dutch Minister of Infrastructure, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (D66), states this in a draft bill. This means that only cyclists and drivers of […]
The liberal MR party has filed a new motion proposition to the Brussels Parliament calling the Region to inform and assist their citizens impacted by the Low-Emission Zone (LEZ). MR deputy, Anne-Charlotte d’Ursel, asks for the introduction of an EV […]
According to economist Philippe Defeyt, chief of the Sustainable Development Institute (IDD), at the current rate, Belgium will fail to reach its -35% CO2 reduction objective for 2030 even if all cars become hybrid and electric. The economist calls for […]
On Monday, the Antwerp Labour Court ruled in favor of the trade unions in a lawsuit against Flemish public transport company De Lijn. The latter had plans to change the company structure so that instead of six local works councils […]
Belgium’s rail manager, Infrabel, is setting up the dismantling of Brussels’ 26A freight rail line for the summer of 2021. However, that unused line connects the Brussels port to the site of Schaerbeek Formation where the European fruit and vegetable […]
Car owners must expressly agree to the use of virtually all data from their vehicles. Otherwise, a manufacturer, insurance, or navigation company may not store and use the data. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) states this. The European watchdog […]
The Flemish government no longer wants to admit polluting mopeds and scooters to the low-emission zones (LEZ) of, for example, Ghent and Antwerp. But the problem is that it doesn’t know how to realize this, as there is no inventory […]
Thirteen accidents occur every day in Belgium, in which people are injured because someone did not respect the priority rules. In 2018, 49 people lost their lives due to this. Although the number of accidents fell from 7.883 in 2009 […]
Approximately half of Belgians would change their online buying behavior if 5 euros had to be paid to return orders. This is the conclusion of a study commissioned by the Federal Minister of Economy and Consumers, Nathalie Muylle (CD&V). “We […]
Once again, there’s some commotion about the car sales figures in Belgium in 2019. Officially, 550.003 car sales were registered, a very good result, and second-best year ever. But 6% (34.952 cars) was deregistered a few months after registration and […]
Britain is going to ban – ‘subject to consultation’ – the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars, even hybrids by 2035. That’s five years earlier than initially planned and it can be even sooner, if feasible. Prime Minister Boris […]
According to a study by Swiss business bank UBS, a price war on plug-in hybrids (PHEV) is a serious risk in 2020, as car manufacturers will struggle to comply by the end of 2020 with the EU’s stricter CO2 emission […]
Flemish newspaper De Morgen interviewed Frans Timmermans, ‘Mister climate’ of the European Commission, about the European Green Deal. Timmermans does not see the Green Deal as a fixed plan, but rather as a guideline with the ultimate goal of climate […]
A team of administrative staff has just been set up in Brussels to check whether the rules on free-floating devices such as e-steps, scooters, and bicycles are being properly complied with. With this measure, Brussels wants to reduce the nuisance […]
At the beginning of the year, the city of Ghent introduced a low-emission zone, but still tolerated offenders the first month. As of February 1st, drivers with old, polluting (diesel) cars will be fined. During the transition period, an average […]
Since Brexit was voted in 2016, the British car industry shrank 25%. Last year total car production was 1,3 million units, far away from the 2 million that were predicted only four years ago. Of course, the crisis in the […]
