Around 30% of Belgian drivers admit to driving faster than the speed limit at least once a month, according to a study by the road traffic institute Vias.
The numbers have gone up over the past year, in all driving circumstances: from 26% to 28% in a built-up area. From 31% to 36% outside built-up areas and from 27% to 32% on motorways.
At the same time, 58% of drivers are in favour of more speed controls to ensure the limits are respected. However more than half of all drivers are against a general 30 km/h speed limit in city centres – 61% in Flanders, 70% in Brussels and 78% in Wallonia.
There is widespread condemnation of other motoring offences: 83% against using a mobile phone while driving, 73% against drink-driving. There is also a 62% majority in favour of introducing zero-tolerance of alcohol behind the wheel, with only 29% against.
In Flanders, 87% of people questioned use the car to get around. In Wallonia slightly fewer, with 82%. In Brussels, substantially fewer, with 64% – a combination of congestion and a denser public transport network.
The numbers in Brussels, however, are lower than the year before, while the number of electric conveyances – bicycles, scooters and monowheels – has gone up from 3% to 4%.
This confirms the trend seen in Paris and elsewhere, in which the users of electric share options tend to use them to replace walking and public transport rather than the car – a trend which somewhat undermines the green claims of providers of those share services.
The survey also found that bicycles are making headway in Belgium, with 51% having made use of the bicycle in the past year, up from 47% in the previous survey.
But the regions differ widely: 69% in Flanders, 30% in Brussels and 24% in Wallonia. The differences are largely a matter of terrain, although the more people who cycle, the more it is perceived as safe, which also leads to more people cycling.
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
