September 21, 2022
The Flemish Institute for Logistics (Vlaams Instituut voor Logistiek, VIL) and the Hasselt University joined forces to analyze what they could do about the acute shortage of truck drivers. Together, they launched the ‘Truck Driver 4.0’ project in search of solutions for the sector. The project’s starting point was the problematic shortage of truckers, despite […]
September 20, 2022
Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) has given the go-ahead to establish so-called ‘middle lanes’. This new type of public road should ensure greater safety for vulnerable road users, especially cyclists. The adaptation of the traffic regulations will take effect from 1 October. The pressure group Cyclists Association (Fietsersbond) does not react highly enthusiastically. Initial studies […]
September 20, 2022
From 19 September, the lights go out at night on many Walloon highways. The measure comes at the initiative of the Walloon government and the administrator Sofico in response to the energy crisis, reports Walloon Energy, Mobility, and Infrastructure Minister Philippe Henry (Ecolo). Specifically, the measure involves lights on the central reservation of highways going […]
September 19, 2022
If it were up to the Open Vld, car inspection as we know it today would be dropped, and periodic vehicle inspections would be put in the hands of garage owners instead of the current (regional) government-regulated monopoly of technical centers. This was one of the propositions adopted at the annual party congress of the […]
September 16, 2022
An American Tesla-hacker called Green has unveiled that Tesla embeds special codes in its software related to the official crash tests conducted by safety organizations. It is not precisely confirmed what this special code accomplishes, but reportedly, it is related to the automatic driving functions, not the barrier tests themselves. The news broke when Green […]
September 14, 2022
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, one of Brussels’ busiest approach roads with the presence of several notable Belgian and EU governmental buildings, may get a two-way bike lane, separated from car traffic and pedestrians. This corresponds to the current test set-up. So reports Brussels Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt (Groen). The minister hopes the works […]
September 06, 2022
The Dutch Minister of Justice and Security, Dilan Yeşilgöz (VVD), is planning to increase the frequently occurring traffic offenses by almost 8,6%. The prices rise with inflation, as is the case for other products. However, some fines will not exceed the upper limit of 450 euros. What does this price rise in real terms mean? […]
September 05, 2022
In the last twelve months, the police conducted alcohol tests among more than 322 000 drivers. Almost 2,5% of 7 972 motorists tested positive. The lowest number in five years, according to traffic safety institute Vias. Still, the federal police put these results into perspective. “We’ll only be happy when the number of drunk drivers […]
September 05, 2022
AXA is joining the list of insurance companies pointing at the higher accident rate with electric cars. A probe from their Swiss department unveiled that EV drivers are 50% more involved in accidents due to inappropriate driving behavior. But ‘fake’ images of a burning Tesla, which turned out not to have a battery and the […]
August 31, 2022
The number of traffic deaths on Belgian roads increased by 39% in the first half of the year. During the first six months, 231 people died in traffic, almost as many as before the corona pandemic. The figures come from the latest traffic safety barometer, based on data from the Federal Police and recently published […]
August 26, 2022
Swedish drivers in the county of Blekinge received an odd but disturbing message on their radio screen or navigation system on Wednesday. It read: “Important traffic message. County of Blekinge. Airstrike, danger.” The Swedish traffic department Trafikverket remains puzzled over what happened but speaks of a ‘severe incident’. Blekinge county lies in the South of […]
August 26, 2022
Good visibility is essential for participating safely in traffic. We all know that. Independent research commissioned by glasses brand Pearle Opticians shows that approximately 20% of motorists and electric cyclists say they cannot see clearly when driving, even though they wear glasses or lenses. In addition, a quarter of motorists who wear glasses or lenses […]
August 26, 2022
The Walloon Road Safety Agency (AWSR) has just analyzed the first results of the breathalyzer stations installed in different establishments in Walloon Brabant since the beginning of the summer. And what turns out to be the case? 24% of people with at least 1,14 g of alcohol in their blood believe they are under the […]
August 23, 2022
In North America, Tesla is again raising the price of its Full Self Driving service (FSD), a feature making it possible for its cars to perform semi-autonomous driving. It is the second price hike this year and the add-on, which customers can buy retrograde, now costs five times more than at launch. Until September 5th, […]
August 23, 2022
The four traffic lanes in Brussels Belliard Street – which used to have five lanes – will remain permanently. This is what several French-speaking media outlets are reporting, based on a report by the Bruzz news site. However, the two ‘temporary’ cycle paths, which are enclosed by concrete blocks, will become permanent. Permission to do […]
August 22, 2022
The Belgian traffic safety institute VIAS (formerly BIVV/IBSR) will see its financial activities screened by an external audit. That has been communicated by the Federal Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) in an interview with Het Nieuwsblad. “The audit aims to be able to make an accounting and content-related distinction between the investigative and research activities […]
August 17, 2022
Veilig Verkeer Nederland (VVN), a Dutch organization dedicated to traffic safety since 1932, wants to ban devices to tune up electric bicycles. With those tuning kits, e-bikes with a normal maximum speed of 25 km/hour can be tuned up to reach speeds of 45 to 50 km/hour. “Far too dangerous”, says VVN, “especially for youngsters.” […]
August 16, 2022
A remarkable incident occurred Sunday morning on a Belgian highway past weekend. A man, sitting unconscious behind the wheel of his Renault Clio, was stopped after several fruitless attempts by a police car, only after 25 kilometers, all the time driving steadily at 80 km/h on adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistant. On Sunday […]
August 16, 2022
In January, three liberal members of Parliament submitted a bill for the introduction of a green courtesy light for voluntary firefighters. Now, the Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) has commissioned the traffic safety institute Vias to start a pilot project. The idea is that voluntary firefighters could use a courtesy light to let other […]
August 16, 2022
In Brussels, near Place Saincteclette, a road user was recently arrested for driving 112 km/hour on his e-scooter. He reached this speed in the Anny Cordy tunnel, during the Roller Bike Parade, which is organised every Friday evening from 10 June to 23 September. So reports La Dernière Heure. The man filmed his own ‘heroic […]
August 10, 2022
In the second quarter of 2022, the Brussels local police checked the speed of 9 758 387 drivers using fixed cameras, mobile speed cameras, and the LIDAR speed camera. Of these drivers, 19 434 were found to be driving at an illegal speed. At the section controls in the Hallepoorttunnel and the Baljuw- and Louiza-tunnel, […]
August 09, 2022
From 16 August, vehicle inspection centers in Flanders must resume their normal activities and stop accepting customers by appointment only. This is what Flemish Minister for Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) has decided. The minister is also demanding an audit of the operation and customer satisfaction of the facilities after the complaints piled up in […]
August 09, 2022
Natuurpunt, a volunteer organization protecting nature, calls citizens to register dead animals on the road via an app. This way, the organization wants to collect and analyze data about animals run over and killed in traffic. With more than five km of road per square meter, Belgium has the densest road network in Europe. But, […]
August 08, 2022
In 198 of the 300 Flemish municipalities and cities, there is at least one ‘bicycle street’. This is what Flemish Minister of Mobility, Lydia Peeters (Open Vld), announced. The concept, by which local authorities give extra visibility and space to cyclists, was made legal ten years ago after it had been tested in 2011 in […]
August 05, 2022
Last year, the police fined 12 517 cyclists for not respecting traffic regulations. In our country, an average of 34 cyclists are tagged daily. The figures come from the Ministry of Domestic Affairs. The most common infringements are the absence of lights, ignoring traffic lights, and using a cell phone while cycling. However, the police […]
August 01, 2022
The Flemish government has a design ready to reconstruct the northern part of the Brussels Ring Road. In Zaventem, the Ring Road will be given a parallel structure, where through traffic will be separated from local traffic. In Wemmel, a fourth lane will be added. In addition, the slip roads and exits will be relocated […]
July 29, 2022
Five years after the installation of the cameras in the tunnel, Brussels Mobility will restart discussions in September about the introduction of average speed checks in the Annie Cordy Tunnel, the former Leopold II tunnel, which is the longest in the country. In 2017, the then State Secretary for Traffic Safety, Bianca Debaets (CD&V), wanted […]
July 29, 2022
The Flemish government will review and adjust Flanders’ recommendations concerning bicycle infrastructure. That is what Flemish Minister of Mobility, Lydia Peeters (Open Vld), announced. The update is due to increased bicycle use and the growing popularity of other bicycle types like cargo bikes, speed pedelecs, or rickshaws. Today, the existing manual for bicycle facilities contains […]
July 28, 2022
This summer, the inner city of Hasselt will transform into a residential area with reduced traffic and a speed limit of 20 km/hour for cars and bicycles. Through traffic will be banned, but cyclists and pedestrians will be allowed to use the entire width of the public roads. In addition, parking places in the city […]
July 27, 2022
The French government has abolished the decree imposing technical control for motorbikes over 125 cc from 2023. President Emmanuel Macron is thus fulfilling his promise, even though the measure should be compulsory from this year according to a European directive. According to the French Minister for Transport, Clément Beaune, “other methods can effectively achieve the […]
July 25, 2022
Porsche recalls the Taycan again, which concerns all models including the Cross Turismo and the Sport Turismo. Worldwide, over 40 000 vehicles have been affected this time. There is a possible problem with the wiring harness under the front seats of cars built between July 2019 and May 2018. This is not the first time […]
July 19, 2022
The Flemish government will invest an extra 45 million euros in cycling highways. The money comes from the Relay Fund and is shifted within the Copenhagen Fund from the municipalities to the five Flemish provinces, which put the same amount on the table. According to Open Vld ministers Lydia Peeters and Bart Somers, respectively responsible […]
July 15, 2022
Brussels will permanently maintain all 40 kilometers of the initially ‘temporary corona bicycle paths’. This is reported by the French-language newspaper La Capital and confirmed by Brussels Mobility. Installed during the lockdown due to the Covid-19 crisis to limit the use of public transport, they will not be removed. Permit applications will be submitted in […]
July 11, 2022
After a first pilot project, all cameras on the Flemish highways will be permanently operational as of the end of August. Anyone driving 129 km/hour or more will be caught and fined. There will no longer be any margin of tolerance. The measure should improve traffic safety. “129 km/hour will become the standard on the […]
July 11, 2022
Since Friday, two new bridges over the Brussels Charleroi Canal have been officially inaugurated. On the border of Drogenbos and Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, it is the Three Fountains Bridge (Drie Fonteinenbrug). In Halle, it is the Misia Bridge, formerly known as the Zuidbrug. Thanks to the new Three Fountains Bridge, a bridge made of 600 tons of […]
July 08, 2022
In Ghent, ‘Gentspoort’ was officially launched on Thursday. With this project, which you can translate as ‘Ghent tracks’, the Flemish government wants to offer an answer to some persistent mobility bottlenecks in and around the city. For example, there will be new tram lines, and the ring road will be partly relocated, including at the […]
July 08, 2022
Just one day after Cruise was granted an official license for commercial autonomous taxi rides, one of its robocars got involved in an accident injuring multiple passengers. The crash is under investigation. According to reports, a robotaxi from Cruise took a left turn on the 3rd of June at a junction in San Francisco but […]
July 06, 2022
According to a study by Belgian traffic safety institute Vias, more than half of all parcel carriers admit – sometimes or often – driving too fast. The Vias study was commissioned by Minister Petra De Sutter (Groen). The study was intended to map the impact of parcel deliveries on mobility and traffic safety in Belgium. […]
July 06, 2022
Over two months, more specifically from May through June, approximately 1 500 driving licenses were withdrawn from car drivers in Halle-Vilvoorde who used their phones while driving. The public prosecutor’s office reported this on Tuesday in a press release. “At the time of the action, all these drivers posed a real danger to themselves and […]
July 06, 2022
The Walloon government announced on Tuesday that it has approved the Wallonia Cycling Plan 2030, which aims to make cycling possible, safe, and normal for everyone. The plan, which results from consultation with numerous partners, including cyclists’ associations, is divided into four sections on which work must progress in parallel: governance, networks & infrastructure, service […]
July 04, 2022
The Brussels Region is taking additional measures for e-scooters, such as reducing the maximum speed to 8 km/hour in certain pedestrian zones. Brussels Mobility announced this in a press release on Friday. There will also be adapted parking or drop-off zones and prohibited zones with specific road signs. Parking on the pavement is allowed if […]
July 01, 2022
The die is cast: Dutch riders of mopeds (and their passengers) will have to wear a mandatory helmet as of January 1st, 2023. Plans for the compulsory helmet were already imminent, but now the situation is finally clear. Those who hit the road without a helmet risk a fine of 100 euros. The measure applies […]
June 27, 2022
The city of Antwerp introduced new regulations for shared e-scooters. From July 18th onward, ‘no go zones’, ‘no park zones’, and ‘slow-speed zones’ will be marked. Technology makes cheating impossible. For example, in a ‘no go zone’, the e-scooters will automatically reduce speed and come to a halt if you enter the area. The city […]
June 27, 2022
Last year, the federal police fined more than 4,6 million drivers for speeding in Belgium. That is more than ever, or an increase of 14,75% compared to 2020. According to the police, “people experience a kind of urge for compensation after corona.” And, of course, this leads to more traffic fines. “People seem to give […]
June 24, 2022
One in two Walloon motorists is driving too fast to go on holiday. This is shown in a survey by the Walloon Road Safety Agency (AWSR) published on Friday. The survey also shows that more than half of Walloon men and women will leave for other countries this summer, mainly by car. According to the […]
June 21, 2022
Last year, there were 42 566 traffic victims in Belgium. Most of them were lightly injured. However, 3 908 people were seriously injured and 516 people died within thirty days of the accident. This is a decrease compared to previous years. These figures come from the Belgian statistics office Statbel. In addition, 34 640 road […]
June 21, 2022
After decades of postponing, the Mobility Committee of the Belgian Parliament is finally going into the details this week of a driver’s with points, as inscribed into the coalition agreement of the Vivaldi government. The Belgian road safety institute Vias was asked to study the consequences and modalities and presented the results to the MPs. […]
June 20, 2022
Six bars and discotheques will be equipped with interactive breath analyzer terminals, notably in Wavre, Braine-l’Alleud, and Waterloo. The so-called ‘breathalyzer project’ is a pilot experiment, with a budget of 120 000 euros, which will run in each Walloon province. The first started last Friday in Walloon Brabant. The Walloon Minister for Road Safety, Valérie […]
June 20, 2022
To facilitate thorough repairs, the Kinkempois and Grosses Battes tunnels on the E25-E40/A602 highway link in Liège will be closed in both directions between 4 July and 23 August. More precicely between the junctions 38 Angleur/Grosses Battes/Belle-Île and 37 Val Benoit/Seraing/Marche. The highway is still suffering the consequences of last summer’s heavy floods. This was […]
June 16, 2022
Whoever wants to use a shared e-scooter of Bolt by unlocking the QR code must take an alcohol test. The cognitive reaction test is included in Bolt’s app and is mandatory for everyone who wants to use the e-scooter on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. The (micro)mobility operator, which […]
June 16, 2022
In April, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo installed an expert committee to battle inflation and study ‘buying power and competitiveness’. Yesterday, Pierre Wunsch, chair of the committee and Governor of the National Bank, presented its intermediate conclusions. Among them, clear recommendations were to gradually reduce the highway speed limit to 100 kph and reduce […]
June 16, 2022
In May, 690 drivers were caught using their smartphones at the wheel in the province of East Flanders. As a result, their drivers’ licenses were suspended for eight days. Earlier, the public prosecutor had warned of a severe approach. “The inadmissible use of the smartphone at the wheel will immediately be punished with an eight-day […]
June 13, 2022
Ten years ago, during Picnic The Streets, up to 3000 citizens claimed the public space on the Boulevard Anspach in the heart of Brussels for the first time to banish the car from the city center. On Sunday, in Cinema Palace, the organization looked back, but they looked ahead to the future. Afterward, another symbolic […]
June 07, 2022
The renovation of several tunnels in Brussels has been postponed. This was reported by the newspapers De Tijd and L’Echo. An independent audit to get the Brussels’ budget under control is basically why the renovation of some Brussels tunnels will occur later than initially planned. The Brussels Region drew up a multi-annual investment program in […]
June 01, 2022
Pedestrians and cyclists who encounter a heavy car in a traffic accident face double the chance of losing their lives compared to lighter vehicles. These are the findings from VIAS. The safety association performed a cross-study, linking the data from accident statistics to vehicle registrations. The survey also looked at the possible impact of age […]
May 31, 2022
The first bridge over the Brussels Ring Road is ready for use. The bridge, located near the Diegem train station, follows the railway line between Leuven and Brussels and connects to the F3 cycling highway. Flemish Minister for Mobility and Public Works Lydia Peeters (Open VLD) officially inaugurated the 169-meter-long bridge on Monday. Motivate commuters […]
May 24, 2022
Road safety institute Vias advocates the rapid introduction of a driving license based on points to which measures and judicial sanctions are automatically linked up to a certain level. This is stated in a study commissioned by Federal Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo), and for which a comparison was made with the practices of […]
May 23, 2022
Belgian Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) wants the penalties for speeding to be more proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the risk to other road users, especially the most vulnerable. It is no coincidence that the Minister is launching this trial balloon now. Accident statistics are not good in Belgium. The figures […]
May 20, 2022
Road signs warning for crossing toads, ducklings, or deer are a familiar sight on Belgian roads. But in Wetteren, commuters on the cycle highway alongside the railway are now warned of a new species: wall lizards. Their growing population led to a casualty rate demanding precautionary measures. The population of wall lizards living asides from […]
May 13, 2022
Flemish Minister of Mobility, Lydia Peeters (Open Vld), wants to know the effect of lowering the speed on the highways around Ghent. She, therefore, ordered a study, the Minister announced on Thursday in the Mobility Commission of the Flemish Parliament. The Minister hopes she will be able to start a test phase based on the […]
