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Belgium

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  • November 4, 2014 at 3:57 pm #22682
    OldRidgeback

    There was a discussion about Belgium and its road safety record recently. I commented how dangerous the country is compared with its neighbours. One poster from Belgium, I forget his name, said this was not true. Here is an article from the Belgian press backing up what I said.

    In the period from 2009 to 2013, the number of fatal accidents on Belgian motorways reached 521, resulting in 582 deaths. The number of deaths for every 100 km of motorway is three times higher in Belgium than in France and two times higher than in the Netherlands. The Belgian motorways with the highest numbers of deaths are the A11 between Antwerp and Assenede and the Antwerp ring road. The motorways with the lowest numbers are the Ghent ring road and A602 through Liege. The number of fatal accidents reached 269 in Flanders and 247 in Wallonia.

    Belgium has a terrible road safety record. I do go there regularly for work. I would not feel confident to cycle on Belgian roads.

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  • November 11, 2014 at 2:03 pm #819927
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    Colin Peyresourde

    Must be all the soigneurs
    Must be all the soigneurs driving around, coked up with their boot full of drugs.

    November 8, 2014 at 1:55 pm #819925
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    bikebot

    Yorkshie Whippet wrote:Look

    Yorkshie Whippet wrote:
    Look at it another way around 600 deaths on motorways over 4 yrs so about 150 a year. Compare that to the estimated 250 000 dead after the tsunami or the 3500 in 9/11. Still not bad odds.

    If you want to do that comparison, the right way to do it is to add up all the deaths due to tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes and other acts of God per year worldwide and compare them to road traffic deaths on the same basis.

    Road traffic deaths are about 1.2 million each and every year.

    November 8, 2014 at 1:02 pm #819923
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    Skylark

    Tsunami or 9/11 is not an
    Tsunami or 9/11 is not an everyday occurance. Motorway Madness on the other hand is not an Act of God, but a self created affliction due to human motoring.

    What we can learn from this story is that the Belgium A11 must be avoided.

    November 8, 2014 at 10:37 am #819921
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    Yorkshie Whippet

    Look at it another way around
    Look at it another way around 600 deaths on motorways over 4 yrs so about 150 a year. Compare that to the estimated 250 000 dead after the tsunami or the 3500 in 9/11. Still not bad odds.

    How vehicles have used said motorways, how many miles driven, how many journeys made? Or put it this way 100% of all life results in a death. 99.99999% of things that have lived on Earth is now dead.

    The little bit of riding I’ve done in Belgium has been a joy and none has been on a motorway anyway.

    November 7, 2014 at 8:51 pm #819919
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    mrmo

    I wonder how much of the
    I wonder how much of the issue is related to there being no driving test until 1977, which must mean a fair number of drivers have effectively learnt as they went along and undoubtably picked up a few bad habits?

    November 7, 2014 at 8:12 pm #819917
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    badback

    Have relatives in France and
    Have relatives in France and have cycled a lot in France and Belgium. A few Belgians seem to become a bit unhinged when they see the autoroute sign and go a bit crazy. (Worse place I driven by far is Cote d’Azur – no Belgians involved there though, just French and Italians).

    Had very few problems cycling in Belgium mainly because their cycle lanes and general infrastructure is so good. Only bit of road rage I’ve had over there was a Belgian trying to give be a telling off for not using the bike lane (that had only just began on the opposite side of a main road that was difficult to get to).

    November 7, 2014 at 7:38 pm #819915
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    Skylark

    As with any place there is
    As with any place there is the good, the bad and the ugly.

    I have found some bad driving in Belgie. Less because of malicous intent and more to do with the sheer idiocy, lack of road sense much less common sense.

    In the UK the sort of bad and ugly drivers that you get have more of a malicious attitude.

    When you go to mainland Europe you find the sort of infiltration from easterners and southerners who tend to have a slight lacking of common sense.

    In Britain this’s less so but instead it’s the attitude which is bad.

    November 7, 2014 at 7:25 pm #819913
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    PpPete

    I’ve not cycled in Belgium,
    I’ve not cycled in Belgium, but my experience as a motorist is that drivers of Belgian registered cars are, as a general rule, among the least competent I’ve ever come across.
    The accident statistics quoted do not surprise me at all.

    November 7, 2014 at 7:10 pm #819911
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    monty dog

    I cycle in Belgium regularly
    I cycle in Belgium regularly and have never encountered the bad, inconsiderate driving that is almost the norm in the UK.

    November 7, 2014 at 5:23 pm #819909
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    S13SFC

    I drive and cycle in Belgium
    I drive and cycle in Belgium in a very regular basis.

    As a rule they are much better drivers than the Brits and are certainly more cycle aware.

    Some of you lot sound like a bunch of pussy’s if I’m honest.

    November 7, 2014 at 3:40 pm #819907
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    Pointbroken

    This isn’t quite on topic so
    This isn’t quite on topic so apologies in advance,

    I have only cycled in France/Belgium and the UK and i find it an equally pleasurable cycling expierence in France/belgium.

    However I don’t think on the whole I’m safer on the continent. The drivers may be less likely to beep the horn and show less entitlement to the road but they drive just as fast and just as close and take the same crazy chances on bends etc…

    Does that make sense. Does anyone agree?

    November 7, 2014 at 3:06 pm #819905
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    LondonDynaslow

    I find Belgian drivers
    I find Belgian drivers terrifying. When you drive across northern Europe you see all other nationalities getting out of the way of the cars with the red number plates. They run up behind you flashing and barge you out of the way in the fast lane, and cross into it without indicating. Their lorry drivers are as bad too: they pull into the fast lane when you are alongside their trailers, so you either have to put your foot down or slam on the brakes. Seriously – I’m not joking. They not as bad as Italians, but they’re the worst in northern Europe. This report is not surprising.

    November 6, 2014 at 2:34 pm #819903
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    parksey

    I suppose not directly
    I suppose not directly related to the OP’s point, but I happened to be in Belgium a few weekends ago having been on a short cruise with the wife.

    Took a coach excursion around some of the Flanders war memorials and one of the things I did notice was the extent of the cycling infrastructure outside of the towns and cities. Even in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, roundabouts still had full cycle lane provision on them.

    I was genuinely quite surprised by that, it seems that not only do the Belgians properly cater for cyclists in their cities, but outside of them too. When any meaningful talk of proper infrastructure in this country is almost exclusively about central London, it seems we’ve still got a very long way to go yet.

    November 4, 2014 at 8:55 pm #819901
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    ajmarshal1

    I can only speak from
    I can only speak from experience as a cyclist cycling in Belgium, I found it to be very good. Would never hesitate to take the opportunity to ride in Belgium every time the chance arises.

    November 4, 2014 at 7:35 pm #819899
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    OldRidgeback

    Your experience of Belgium is
    Your experience of Belgium is perhaps different from mine. Last time I was in Brussels I had to explain to the cab driver that I didn’t want him sending texts while driving me around and that if he continued, I’d want to get out and take a different cab. He seemed surprised at this. I often see poor driving when I’m in Brussels. I wouldn’t want to cycle in the city, though having cycled in London for many years I’m certainly used to dealing with heavy traffic.

    I remember a case a couple of years ago in which a (British) pedestrian was knocked down and killed by a drunk driver in Belgium. The driver was subsequently banned, for two weeks. We hear a lot about improper sentencing in the UK, but in this respect Belgium is far, far more lenient on offenders than its neighbours.

    Note that the Netherlands has just as much through traffic as Belgium. Its roads are far safer.

    There is a lot of information available on the Belgian road network and its poor safety. Please, look it up.

    Here is the link to the European Road Assessment Program (EuroRAP):

    http://eurorap.org/partner-countries/belgium/

    Here are some key quotes:
    The safety of Belgian roads is improving but performance remains markedly below neighboring countries. Just 5% of the Belgian motorway network is in the low risk category compared to 75% in Germany and 97% in Great Britain.

    There are many other sources you can reference also. Google is very useful.

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