September 25, 2023
The number of average speed controls on Flemish roads is increasing rapidly. Newspaper De Tijd reports that, according to a survey by Het Laatste Nieuws and news channel VTM, 159 trajectory speed checks are operational today. By the end of the year, this number will more than double to 349. Average or trajectory speed checks […]
September 22, 2023
The proposal from the French Green Party to update the European driver’s permit is meeting strong opposition. On Thursday, the German Green Party responded that “a night driving ban for young drivers and an extra driving license for SUVs completely miss people’s reality and are nonsense”. Karima Delli handed in the proposal from the French […]
September 18, 2023
In January, there will be a central bicycle register in Belgium to fight bicycle theft. Federal Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) confirmed this in Le Soir newspaper, among others. It is one of the showpieces of the ‘Be Cyclist’ program, which aims to promote the use of bicycles through a series of 52 measures. The […]
September 12, 2023
Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) will break up the monopoly of car inspection centers in Flanders. In the future, drivers will be allowed to have repairs for certain minor defects carried out by their own garages without having to present themselves again for the technical inspection afterward. In concrete terms, the current centers […]
September 11, 2023
The Gotthard tunnel, at 16,9 km the longest road tunnel in Switzerland, has been closed since Sunday. The reason is a crack in the ceiling of the tunnel, which is popular with motorists driving to and from Italy. Chunks of concrete landed on the road, but no one was injured, said FEDRO, the Swiss agency […]
September 06, 2023
You don’t have to live in Brussels for road safety, and certainly not since the rise of electric shared mobility. As many as 64% of Brussels residents blame the rising number of road accidents on this trend. More than half (54%) of the capital’s residents also think shared e-mobility, such as rental e-scooters, should be […]
September 05, 2023
Rome has not gone as far as Paris, but instead of a total ban, the Eternal City, following the example of Brussels, is limiting the number of rental e-scooters from 14 500 to 9 000 from 1 September. At the same time, the city is also implementing new rules to regulate the use of the […]
September 05, 2023
Driving according to the guidelines of a GPS will become a mandatory part of the practical driving test as of October 1st. So, candidate drivers will not only have to prove they can complete a course by following the traffic signs but also according to the instructions of a navigation device. Drivers need to be […]
September 01, 2023
Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) is to amend the existing breath test procedure. The possibility of requesting a 15-minute waiting period will be abolished, and the minimum volume of exhaled air will be reduced. Gilkinet has submitted the faster and more efficient measure to the regions and hopes it can come into effect by the […]
August 31, 2023
In Paris, one of 15 000 shared e-scooters can be ridden for the last time today. From September 1st, they will be banned from the French capital, a result of the outcome of a binding referendum held in April. The rental e-scooters were said to cause too much chaos on pavements and unsafe traffic situations. […]
August 30, 2023
Next summer, Ghent wants to organize Velo-city, a significant cycling festival and congress. The city council has set aside 180 000 euros for it. The highlight should be a bike ride with 2 000 participants. From 18 to 21 June 2024, Ghent will briefly be the epicenter of international cycling. The major cycling conference Velo-city […]
August 28, 2023
The number of road deaths in Belgium decreased by 21% in the first six months of the year compared to last year. Last year, 287 people died in traffic on Belgian roads, this year ‘only’ 227. Yet an average of nine people still die on Belgian roads every week, which remains far too many. The […]
August 25, 2023
The Walloon government has adopted a decree to regulate fleets of shared bicycles and e-scooters in cities and to ensure more sustainable management. The text provides for the Region to grant licenses only to operators who meet various technical requirements, such as vehicle characteristics, but also the sustainability of fleet management. The Walloon municipalities will […]
August 22, 2023
Road fatalities in the European Union dropped by almost 13% in 2021 compared to 2019. In 2021, they decreased in 22 of the 27 EU member states. The European Union counts 45 road fatalities per million inhabitants annually, compared to 66 fatalities (per million) back in 2011. This demonstrates that clear progress has been made […]
August 18, 2023
Five years after the accident with the Stint electric cargo cart in Oss (the Netherlands), in which four children died in a collision with a train, two company executives are accused of “marketing and selling a harmful product, which they knew was harmful”. They risk life in prison now that the Dutch court prosecutes them […]
August 17, 2023
In an effort to further stimulate the adoption of electric vans for goods transport, Belgian Federal Minister for Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) has proposed to exempt e-vans with a maximum authorized mass of more than 3,5 tons of their tachograph obligation, the newspaper De Tijd writes. It means that their driving and rest times would […]
August 10, 2023
Belgium has had 19 938 accidents with injuries or fatalities over the past ten years due to failure to observe safe following distances. Two hundred nineteen people were killed in these accidents, and 31 502 others were injured. In Wallonia alone, as many as 4 122 accidents in such circumstances have occurred in ten years, […]
August 04, 2023
One out of ten people killed on the highway in Belgium are pedestrians. More than half (54%) of fatal accidents on highways occur in the surroundings of slip roads. And most fatal accidents (one in three) happen in the dark. The figures come from a recent study by the traffic safety institute Vias. Vias analyzed […]
August 02, 2023
U.S. safety regulators, amongst them the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), announced an investigation into 280 000 new Tesla Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossovers after receiving a dozen complaints about steering failures from 2023 Model Y and Model 3 owners, the news agency Reuters reports. According to the NTSA, one issue has […]
July 20, 2023
Estonian mobility company Bolt introduced its new e-scooter, Bolt 6. The plan is to gradually roll out the new model, with better handling and a pimped-up design, in Brussels and the other cities where Bolt operates. According to the company, the new two-wheeled means of transport sets a new standard for safety and sustainability. Two […]
July 18, 2023
The Flemish government has approved the reinspection of cars by certified garage owners in principle. Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) launched the idea because the official inspection centers cannot tackle the bottlenecks, and there is a need for additional capacity. “The technical inspection remains important from a road safety point of view, but […]
July 17, 2023
Last Sunday, Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) kicked off a new courtesy and safety campaign for users of the many towpaths in Flanders. The campaign calls for courtesy, safe behavior, and respect for the maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour on the more than 2 000 towpaths and dyke roads. Speed pedelecs, […]
July 12, 2023
Ministers of the federal and Flemish governments have launched the ‘Stop Aggression’ action plan to tackle the problem of aggression on public transport in Belgium. The 10-point list includes a bus ban for troublemakers, while the demand for controller body cams will be examined. Public railway company NMBS/SNCB received 1 900 reports of aggression against […]
July 11, 2023
A 27-kilometer stretch of bicycle highway between Herentals and Balen is ready for use in the province of Antwerp. The stretch forms part of bicycle highway F105 Herentals-Leopoldsburg to Limburg. The province of Antwerp invested more than 30 million euros in it. The section between Herentals and Balen includes two new bicycle tunnels and nine […]
July 10, 2023
Brussels Mobility regularly checks Brussels goods and passenger transport to increase the safety of all road users. The overview of checks carried out over the past three months shows that 20% were in violation. In the past three months, Brussels Mobility carried out 12 control actions in cooperation with various police zones. A total of […]
July 07, 2023
The European Commission wants to limit the validity of driver’s licenses for people over 70 to five years. After that time, people would be required to undergo a medical examination or take a refresher course. Okra, the association for the elderly, is highly offended by the proposal and calls it “age discrimination”. And also, the […]
July 06, 2023
A survey by the Walloon Road Safety Agency (AWSR) shows that one Walloon driver in two drinks alcohol even if he has to drive afterward. One in four respondents recently drove potentially above the legal alcohol limit of 0,5 grams per liter of blood. To do something about the problem, the ASWR will be distributing […]
July 06, 2023
The new bicycle highway – F24 – between Louvain and Boutersem was officially inaugurated on Wednesday. Plans and preparations for the project were launched eleven years ago, and now the bicycle connection is finally ready. The new section is 4,5 km long, and 4 meters wide, and follows railway line 36 between Louvain and Tirlemont. […]
July 04, 2023
The Meiser Square in Schaerbeek, a major traffic junction in the neighborhood where public broadcasters VRT and RTBF offices are, will be redesigned completely. Brussels Mobility has applied for a permit. The large roundabout is to make way for two intersections and more green space. The Region hopes to start construction works by 2025. Specifically, […]
July 03, 2023
The number of accidents involving e-scooters has exploded in recent years. To gain insight into the exact causes, the Vias traffic safety institute analyzed a hundred e-scooter accidents with injured people in Brussels in 2020. Most occurred with users under the influence of alcohol and drugs, causing them to lose control. Vias pleads for the […]
June 30, 2023
Primary school ‘De Wieken’ in Kinrooi (Limburg, Belgium) wants to make the bicycle helmet compulsory next school year. The reason for it is a recent accident in which a 10-year-old boy suffered a severe brain injury. The boy, who did not wear a helmet, was hit by a car while crossing the road and landed […]
June 29, 2023
A bicycle tunnel under the Brussels Ring Road has been officially opened in Overijse. The tunnel branches off at the end of Welriekendedreef and connects to the cycle network through the Sonian Forest and, thus, also toward Brussels. Until now, there was a pedestrian tunnel at that spot. Cyclists had to carry their bicycles by […]
June 29, 2023
The new entrance/exit complex of the Brussels Ring Road at Woluwe Avenue in Machelen has been officially opened by the Agency for Roads and Traffic. This completes the second of four phases of the major redevelopment of Woluwe Avenue, part of a 64 million euros investment by the Flemish government with which it intends to […]
June 27, 2023
Due to maintenance, nine Brussels tunnels will temporarily be closed during the summer holidays. To limit traffic disruption, work in four of the nine tunnels will be carried out only at night, reports Brussels Mobility. And in the country’s south, some major highway projects will also be carried out, which could immediately impact the traffic […]
June 23, 2023
Last year, the number of road fatalities in Flanders fell by 9%. However, the Flemish Region still had the most accidents (62%), compared to Brussels (11%), and Wallonia (27%). The figures come from Flanders Statistics (Statistiek Vlaanderen). Among the victims is a growing percentage of vulnerable road users, mainly cyclists. In addition, there are still […]
June 22, 2023
Brussels Mobility has launched a campaign to get the Brussels expat community on bikes. Ambassadors from Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Botswana, New Zealand, Bosnia, and Slovenia in Belgium are “not influencers, but real ambassadors” and are pulling the campaign. The Brussels Capital Region has the largest expat community in Europe, with 220 000 people making […]
June 21, 2023
From next year, French people will be allowed to get their driving license and drive alone from the age of 17. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has reported this. Several traffic associations have already spoken out against a reduction because of the risk of accidents. Driving a car as a 17-year-old in France is now […]
June 19, 2023
Municipal, provincial, and regional officials in Belgium will soon be allowed to fine motorists alongside the police if they overtake a cyclist in a bicycle zone. The council of ministers has decided this. A car driver who overtakes cyclists there risks a municipal administrative sanction, known as a GAS fine for short, of 58 euros. […]
June 15, 2023
Estonian mobility company Bolt is to launch ‘Reckless Ride Score’, an evaluation system to address the unsafe driving habits of e-scooter drivers. It is the first micro-mobility provider to do so. Through this approach, Bolt hopes that safety standards for the highly stressed sector of shared e-scooters will continue to strengthen across the industry. The […]
June 14, 2023
The driving license with points does not seem to be introduced in Belgium, for the time being. The French-speaking socialists (PS) and liberals (MR) are not enthusiastic and have made their own counterproposal, much to the dismay of Vooruit, the party of the Flemish socialists. “People are dying on the roads because PS and MR […]
June 14, 2023
Worldwide, there are 1,35 million fatal road accidents every year, meaning that around 3 700 people die every day in car accidents on the road. Male drivers cause most accidents, although the gender cap is not the same in every country, according to a study by Compare the Market Australia. The gender gap in terms […]
June 12, 2023
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, the new Hector Hennaud Avenue bridge on the Brussels Ring Road in Zaventem was successfully put in place. The colossus, which at 106 by 27 meters approaches the area of half a football pitch, weighs just under 2 000 tons. The smoothly run operation allowed the Ring Road […]
June 12, 2023
Some 200 people from ‘Non au plan Good Move’ protested the Brussels Good Move mobility plan in Anderlecht on Sunday. The local committees against the mobility plan from several Brussels municipalities are demanding a new regional mobility plan for Brussels. The committees recently succeeded in collecting the required 1 000 signatures with which to interpellate […]
June 05, 2023
A European survey shows that 7% of Belgians, or around 420 000 drivers, have already had an accident attributable to alcohol behind the wheel. Last year, nearly 47 000 drivers, an average of 128 per day, were also fined for ‘alcohol behind the wheel’ in Belgium. The new BOB campaign ‘BOB protects lives’, therefore, calls […]
June 02, 2023
The Brussels government is to give a 1,5 million euros grant to Brussels police zones to make road safety an absolute priority within policing. The additional grant should lead to more enforcement, among other things. The police zone Brussels-Capital-Elsene/Ixelles can count on just under 430 000 euro in subsidies. For the other five zones, it […]
June 02, 2023
Those who present their vehicles late because of long waiting times at technical inspection centers in Flanders will soon no longer be fined. This was announced by Flemish Minister for Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open VLD). This is a temporary measure. When the problems in the car inspection sector are over, there will be no more […]
May 26, 2023
One out of ten (10%) Walloon car drivers admit having taken the wheel after taking medication that could have consequences on driving behavior. That is what a new study by the Walloon Agency for Road Safety (L’Agence Wallonne pour la Sécurité Routière, AWSR) revealed on Thursday. Each year, about 25 fatal road accidents are medicine […]
May 24, 2023
People living in Brussels take their cars less often than ten years ago and more often go by bike or on foot. These are the results of a new study by Brussels Mobility. Every day, the capital’s inhabitants make 3,3 million journeys, accounting for 25 million kilometers traveled. Most of these are done on foot […]
May 23, 2023
Using your mobile phone behind the wheel is prohibited by law, yet 17% of Flemish car drivers say they continue to use the device while driving. This is according to a survey of 454 motorists aged between 18 and 54 conducted on behalf of the Flemish Foundation for Transport Studies (VSV). To alert these thick-headed […]
May 19, 2023
Belgium’s Agency for Roads and Traffic (AWV) is working on an app that would soon allow you to get green faster at a traffic light. Public Dutch-language broadcaster VRT reports that. The new system should already work at some intersections in a few months. Linking the app to intelligent traffic lights will make traffic safer […]
May 19, 2023
From 1 June, Belgium is lowering the threshold for immediate revocation of the driving license of those drunk behind the wheel. The standard then lowers from 1,5% to 1,2%. This was announced by Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo). The measure will come into force on 1 June. To tackle alcohol behind the wheel even more […]
May 17, 2023
The Brussels MR has proposed a bill to ban bicycles and e-scooters in busy pedestrian zones in the capital. Currently, the maximum speed allowed there is officially 8 km/hour. Cyclists and e-scooter users who ride too fast through the pedestrian zones risk a fine of 174 euros. The MR justifies the ban by “the explosion […]
May 15, 2023
During the first three months of this year, the number of on-site traffic fatalities on Belgian roads decreased by 18% compared to the same period last year. There were 89 road fatalities compared to 108 during the same period last year. One in three fatalities is a cyclist or pedestrian. This is according to Vias […]
May 12, 2023
A route with self-driving buses from Stagecoach, UK’s largest bus and coach operator, will start operating in Edinburgh next week, a first in the UK. However, a driver will always be on board to monitor things and take back control of the bus in an emergency. This is also required by UK law. The project, […]
May 12, 2023
The first parts of the new, more compact interchange Antwerp-West, where the E17 (Ghent) and the Antwerp ring road near the Kennedy tunnel meet, will open to motorists from Friday evening at 8 p.m. The interchange on Antwerp’s Left Bank is part of the Oosterweel project, a mega-project designed to complete the Antwerp ring road. […]
May 08, 2023
In La Hulpe, Walloon Minister of Mobility and Road Infrastructure Philippe Henry (Ecolo) has inaugurated the very first Walloon section of the bicycle highway. The bicycle highways should become the backbone of the Walloon structuring bicycle network, which the government wants to establish to offer attractive alternatives to car use. At the same time, they […]
April 28, 2023
A bicycle bridge over the Haachtsesteenweg (N21) has been inaugurated in the Flemish Brabant town of Steenokkerzeel. The bridge is part of the bicycle highway F214, which connects the center of Vilvoorde with Brucargo, the cargo zone of Brussels Airport. “Thanks to the bridge, hundreds of airport employees will be able to get to work […]
April 28, 2023
In Flanders, speed pedelecs are only allowed on towpaths being part of a bicycle highway. However, according to the new policy vision on towpaths, Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters Open Vld) has agreed with the Flemish Waterway (Vlaamse Waterweg), those fast-riding e-bikes will get access to all towpaths in Flanders, provided they respect the maximum […]
April 21, 2023
The self-driving shuttles riding around on the domain of the Terhills Resort in Maasmechelen are now completely autonomous. The presence of a safety steward is no longer needed. The shuttle project is unique in Belgium and exceptional in Europe. The vehicles were officially introduced in May last year in the presence of the Flemish Ministers […]
April 19, 2023
The number of people killed in traffic in the Netherlands has increased by more than one-quarter, despite the growing number of safety systems in cars. According to the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, CBS), the number of traffic deaths is the highest since 2008. Last year, 737 road deaths were […]
