Belgium

Road Safety Vision, Plans and Targets for Belgium

Currently, there is no national Belgian road safety programme. However, on 18 May 2001, the Council of Ministers decided to found the State General for Road Safety with the following remit:

• To give an overview of the most important road safety problems and their evolution in the coming years
• To give an overview of the measures that were taken and required targets at the regional levels in order to reduce the number of road crash fatalities and serious injuries
• To give propositions for quantified targets, considering the priority problems, and initiatives taken by the regions and the EU Member State road safety statistics
• To give an overview of the measures to be taken
• To give recommendations for road crash victim care
• To give recommendations concerning follow-up and evaluation of the results and the targets

Road Safety Priorities

The following problem areas have been identified:
Speeding
Several new measures have been proposed to reduce speeding, covering

• the introduction of a behaviour indicator for speeding
• amendments in legislation
• education and awareness
• infrastructure
• vehicle equipment (e.g. speed limiting devices and black boxes)
• speed checks
• legal and judicial measures

Safer heavy goods vehicle traffic
Proposed measures are directed both at intensifying existing measures and making measures operational:

• covenant with the road transport sector
• influencing driver behaviour
• improving active and passive safety characteristics of heavy goods vehicles
• improving road infrastructure (e.g. categorisation of roads, taking lorries into account in road infrastructure design, speed limits, overtaking prohibition, tunnel safety, etc.)
• improved logistics
• urban delivery services (vans)

Safety equipment (seat belts, child restraint systems and crash helmets)
Various measures are proposed to be taken, comprising:

• measures at the organisational level (e.g. monitoring of use of safety equipment)
• education and information
• enforcement
• legislation

Vehicle active and passive safety
Measures in this priority area are comprised of:

• Active safety (e.g. speed reduction, intelligent speed adaptation, daytime running lights, anti-lock brakes, improving field-of-view for lorry drivers)
• Passive safety for vulnerable road users
• Passive safety for occupants of road vehicles

Road Safety Management Organisation

The decision making power concerning road safety in Belgium has been redistributed between the federal and regional governments (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels). Road safety is treated as a component in a broader mobility policy context, including "quality of life" and "sustainable development".

Road safety policy is highly decentralised to the three regions, but modifications are currently in progress. The federal level is responsible for legislation and the Highway Code, driving licences, and the management of  municipal roads. The regions manage the road network in their territories (excluding urban roads), education and mobility plans.

In general, the institutional complexity causes problems where it comes to effective planning, execution and evaluation of road safety in Belgium. In the Flemish regional road safety plan, the following targets exist: reduction of fatalities and serious injuries by one-third by 2005 (base year unknown) and possibly a 50% reduction by 2010. This requires a set of measures in various areas such as infrastructure, education and  enforcement, and for the implementation the various levels of authorities have to co-operate. Enforcement is seen as an area where effects can be achieved quite quickly. More long-term effects can be achieved through better infrastructure, education, land-use planning and vehicle technology.

The Telematics Cluster

Founded in 2003 and supported by the Flemish Government, via IWT (Instituut voor de aanmoediging van Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie in Vlaanderen), the Telematics Cluster is a forum aimed at accelerating the use of intelligent telematics solutions in the area of traffic management, mobility and logistics. The members of the Telematics Cluster form a unique platform, representing all stakeholders of the business: users, operators, integrators, technology suppliers and knowledge institutes. The Telematics Cluster stimulates the collaboration of private companies with regional, national and European governments for the implementation of ITS systems and services.

Its mission is to assist its members in building a solid future-proof telematics strategy in a European context, by stimulating innovation, collaboration and business development. Networking events and individual advice are combined with workshops and validation projects. 

Relevant links

FEBIAC - the Belgian federation of the Car and Two-wheeler Industries

FEBIAC represents the interests of manufacturers and importers at the national, European and global level in all areas of road transport - cars, commercial vehicles, motorised two-wheelers and bicycles - and their suppliers in Belgium. It is the organising body for the Brussels International Motor Shows, which are recognised by OICA and inserted in the OICA calendar. Every January, the Brussels Exhibition Park is turned into the country's biggest showroom.

Belgian Ministry of Transport

Belgisch Verkeersreglement

This Belgian traffic regulations website contains the most important royal and ministerial decisions concerning traffic.

BIVV Belgisch Instituut voor de Verkeersveiligheid
The Belgian Road Safety Institute (BIVV) promotes road safety and traffic liveability by campaigns, education, research and advice. Its other tasks include advising, accompanying, representing, co-ordinating and implementing government assignments. It is part of the Ministère de la Mobilité et des Transports, et du Service Pubic fédéral (SPF) Mobilité et Transports and coordinates national activities for road safety at the federal, regional, provincial, local and municipal level.

Politie België
The official website of the Belgian Police.

Belgian Road Association
Founded on 28 March 2000, the ABR-BWV is an apolitical non-profit organisation that unites the various actors - from both the public and the private sector - involved in the construction, management and operation of road infrastructure in Belgium.

ISA -Intelligent Speed Adaptation

Site on intelligent speed adaptation and road-safety with the latest issues, news and information on Intelligent transport systems and road-safety in Belgium.

Research links

University of Namur
The Transportation Research Group (TRG) is part of the Applied Mathematics Department of the University of Namur and therefore has a dual role: for the past 20 years, it has been focusing on traffic models for urban areas, but it is also involved in the development of the basic operational research tools occurring in modern transportation modelling and in the associated behavioural analysis.

Transport & Mobility Leuven
Transport & Mobility Leuven has joined the Telematics Cluster.