Belgium isn’t slowing down anytime soon
Lowering the maximum speed on the motorway is not on the agenda, despite energy imperatives.
Mobility
Lowering the maximum speed on the motorway is not on the agenda, despite energy imperatives.
From our correspondent Max HELLEFF (Brussels) – Certain concerns have surfaced in the French automotive press since Elisabeth Borne became France’s prime minister. In the past, the latter declared itself favorable “in a personal capacity” to a lowering of the speed on the motorway. In Belgium too, the energy crisis is reawakening this old debate.
The flat country and the car live a love story. “On August 1, 2021, Belgium (and its 11.5 million inhabitants) had 5,927,912 passenger cars, compared to 5,888,589 a year earlier. This is an increase of 0.7% after the slight but remarkable drop of 0.01% during the year 2020 – a year marked by the coronavirus”, notes Statbel, the official statistics website. The year 2022 will probably make these figures lie because of the waiting times now involved in the delivery of a new car.
A lot of nuisance
But the fact remains that the density of the Belgian car fleet in relation to the size of the country causes a lot of obvious nuisances. Nuisances accepted willy-nilly by the authorities who keep the status of the company car as a tax advantage.
One way to fight against this scourge would be to drive more slowly on the highway. Going from 120 to 110 km/h would have a direct impact in terms of safety, pollution and energy consumption. It is this last parameter which revives the discussion today, notably inspired by the International Energy Agency. This estimates that 290,000 barrels of oil for cars and vans and 140,000 for trucks will be saved every day in Europe if the speed is lowered by 10 km/h, or 68.4 million liters of oil daily.
Mixed political reactions
The political world still has to follow. It’s not win. To read the declarations of the various parties collected by The eveningwe understand that they swing between goat-shutism and procrastination.
The lowering of the speed does not appear in the program of the PS. Challenge favors “dynamic traffic management”, with a limited variant “depending on traffic, accidents, weather and times of day”. Ecolo takes refuge behind European commitments which set the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% in 2030 (compared to 1990). The Reform Movement pleads for “dynamic speeds” depending on the hours and the state of traffic. He is joined by the… communist PTB for whom “you have to have the support of the people”…
Lower speed but…
In short, Wallonia does not want it. No more than Flanders. And Brussels does not have a motorway section on its regional territory. However, the question could come back to the table in the context of the Air-Climate-Energy Plan which defines the main lines of the country’s transition towards a sustainable, reliable and financially affordable energy system.
However, the speed has been lowered on the “Brussels ring”, a good part of the route of which is actually in Flanders. In September 2020, it was limited to 100 km/h. According to the traffic police, the average speed recorded fell by around 10 km / h in June 2021 compared to June 2019. However, many drivers do not respect the rule.
The “ring” is every motorist’s nightmare. The influx at rush hour and the slightest accident cause kilometer traffic jams which often push road users to go and bottle up the neighboring villages. Thus the countryside is at times more polluted and noisier than the cities.
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