According to the Belgian Mobility Dashboard, a freely accessible platform that provides a range of essential mobility indicators for Belgium, it turns out that despite smoother traffic in the summer, Belgian roads are not safer.
As in previous years, the summer months brought a noticeable decrease in traffic jams on the roads. But paradoxically, less traffic doesn’t necessarily lead to greater safety.
In 2024, 35,916 accidents were recorded on our roads, averaging 98 per day. Compared to 2023, this is a slight improvement: -3% fewer accidents and -6% fewer fatalities. Although Belgian roads were generally safer in 2024 than in 2023, summer – contrary to what you might think – remains a difficult period.
Summer traffic flowed significantly more smoothly, but this didn’t lead to fewer accidents – on the contrary, the summer months were relatively riskier. In fact, there were more incidents in July and August (2,878 and 2,933 accidents, respectively) than in January and February (2,500 and 2,520 accidents, respectively). July 2024 also had the highest number of road deaths of the year.
Possible causes include higher speeds during less busy periods, more recreational travel, and increased risk factors such as alcohol, fatigue, or poor concentration.
‘All for Zero’
Although we are seeing a steady reduction in accidents (-3%) and fatalities (-6%) compared to 2023, we are still far from achieving structural safety. The ‘All for Zero’ goal, specifically zero deaths, remains far from reality, especially in the summer.
The summer months may require targeted safety measures, such as more intensive checks, speed limits, campaign-oriented awareness (including holiday and recreational traffic), and infrastructure adjustments (e.g., zone redesign, temporary speed cameras).
Shorter traffic jams in summer
During the summer holidays, traffic jams are noticeably shorter. In the preceding months, the average maximum length of traffic jams was 1,207 km, but in July, it was ‘only’ 574 km — a decrease of 52%. Compared to 2023, traffic jams are also shorter (642 km).
What about the economic impact of that smoother traffic? The cost of traffic jams decreased by 34%, from an average of €463 million per month in the months before the summer holidays to €306 million in July.
Flanders performs best
Flanders performs best in terms of road safety, Wallonia exhibits greater vulnerabilities, and Brussels remains relatively safe given its urban character.
With the Belgian Mobility Dashboard, the Federation of Belgian Enterprises (VBO) and the mobility federation FEBIAC aim to closely monitor Belgian traffic and provide policymakers with all the necessary tools to implement a smoother and greener traffic policy.
