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Belgians overestimate their own driving ability
Belgians tend to think they are good drivers, despite the fact that they pick up a large number of fines in other countries and score rather badly in accident statistics, according to figures from the motoring organisation VAB.
The organisation asked 2,000 Belgians to rate their own driving ability, and found that more than nine out of 10 motorists thought they were a good driver. However, that rating doesn't match the facts: Belgium came off worst for road fatalities in a list of countries being compared, including Germany and the Netherlands, with 73 per million inhabitants.
Belgians also receive a high number of fines when driving abroad: among those who went on holiday abroad in 2013, 5% from Flanders and 8% from Wallonia received a fine. And 1.2% of speeding tickets in France goes to a Belgian, although the figures are skewed by the fact that many speed cameras are installed on routes popular with Belgian holidaymakers. In the month of July so far, 15,577 Belgian-registered cars have been flashed for speeding, VAB said.
Photo: Ingimage
Comments
No kidding. Any other result would have been surprising. Only those who can 'read' Belgian drivers and who drive defensively have a chance of surviving driving in this country. Before I actually ended up living here, I found driving through Belgium a truly terrifying experience. Is it something to do with the air in the Benelux? Anyone who has seen Dutch drivers going full speed in reverse on motorways back to an exit they missed or Luxembourgers speeding no matter what will understand what I mean.
Ps- do Belgian cars actually come with directional signals or are they just optional extras that no one buys?
That is a dangerous delusion. Someone wake them up.
I think this has nothing to do with driving ability (I find their driving skills quite good) but much more with not being disciplined and not respecting any rules and people (road users , pedestrians etc).
Really, Sophia, but discipline and respecting rules, and respecting other road users and pedestrians IS all part of being a good driver! Brussels region should, however, pay more attention to road design and not place zebra crossings at the top end of roads where drivers have little or no advance visibility of pedestrians about to cross. And the pitiful design at the CORA/Chee de Louvain crossing needs a radical rethink to improve the flow of traffic by, for example, eliminating the lanes for parking and increasing the traffic lanes to two on both sides!