West Flanders is the deadliest province for drivers in the Flemish region, with recent statistics showing that more drivers were killed there than in any other part of Flanders.
A study carried out by the Flemish statistics office Statistiek Vlaanderen showed that road accidents in that province resulted in deaths and serious injuries more often than in the rest of Flanders.
Last year, a total of 310 people died in road accidents in the Flemish region and 2,526 more were injured, amounting to an average of such incidents of 0.43 per 1,000 inhabitants.
In West Flanders, the westernmost province in the region, that average was of 0.55 per 1,000 inhabitants.
The statistics office said the figures and averages were impacted by the number of overall inhabitants at the municipal level, but authorities in the province said that a thorough study would be carried out to pin down the causes for the higher number of incidents, according to VRT.
The fact that there are more regional roads in the rural province than in any other part of Flanders could provide some explanation.
"International research shows that regional roads outside built-up areas see the highest number of deaths and serious injuries," Werner De Dobbeleer from the Flemish Traffic Engineering Foundation told the outlet, adding that this had to do with intersections, oncoming traffic and driving at high-speeds on these kinds of roads.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
