The number of bicyclists who died in a road accident in the first nine months of this year reached the highest level in a decade; on-the-spot traffic deaths rose across the country.
From January to October, 326 people died instantly in a traffic accident – a 16% rise compared to the same period last year. One in four of these deaths were pedestrians or bicyclists, Vias institute's latest Road Safety Barometer showed, based on figures from the federal police.
"On a national level, we see the most worrying trend among bicyclists. There have also never been so many bicycle fatalities in the past 10 years," a Vias statement read. The number of bicycling deaths rose from 31 to 49.
The rise was most notable in Wallonia (from two to 12 deaths); in Flanders, the number went up from 28 to 36 deaths. Pedestrians deaths rose from 30 to 39.
'Explosive' rise in e-scooter accidents
Accidents that resulted in injury in Brussels were also the highest in a decade. As seen last year, incidents involving e-scooters keeps going up. In the first nine months of 2022, 1,305 scooter accidents led to injury – an average of five per day. In Brussels, almost one in five accidents (19%) involved an electric scooter.
While new rules have been in force since 1 July, Vias noted that it will "take some time before we will see the effect of that measure in the figures."
Ever popular, e-scooters account for one in five incidents in Brussels. BELGA PHOTO ANTONY GEVAERT
Vias urged the need to protect vulnerable road users, calling this "the main challenge of the federal road safety policy in the coming years."
Last year, Belgium's regional governments launched a national plan for road safety which aims to eliminate all traffic-related deaths by 2050, an initiative dubbed "Vision Zero by 2050." Brussels has gone one step further and vowed to achieve this by 2030. But figures show that Belgium is moving in the opposite direction.
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Already in the first three months of this year, a total of 111 people died in traffic accidents – 50% more than the same period last year. The number of injuries in accidents has also risen.
In June, the Court of Audit noted that reducing deaths on Belgian roads to zero by 2050 will be a huge challenge, especially in Flanders, which at that point had never achieved the goals it sets for reducing these figures.
