Brussels ban on quad bikes still does not apply to Uccle

The Brussels municipality of Uccle continues to evade a regional ban on quads, saying that it does not have a nuisance issue with these vehicles and wants to avoid cluttering streets with unnecessary signage.

A 2015 regulation banned "four-wheeled motor vehicles designed for off-road use, with an open body, handlebars like a motorcycle and a saddle", RTBF reports, after quads became a nuisance in the capital.

The vehicles are loud and were said to generate significant noise pollution, disturbing the peace and quiet of residential neighbourhoods.

There were also road safety concerns, with quad bike drivers taking part in street rodeos, which were causing accidents.

But any ban had to be adopted for the entire region, identical in every municipality, prompting resistance from some.

In 2012, Schaerbeek’s then-mayor Bernard Clerfayt (DéFi) said the ban risked "creating a forest of useless signs" and today, in Uccle, mayor Boris Dilliès (MR) calls the measure tantamount to "a ban on flying saucers".

“Maybe the other 18 municipalities were overrun with quad bikes... [but] we had never seen any quad bikes – why legislate on something that doesn't exist?” Dilliès argued.

“I was born in Uccle and I have never seen a quad bike in Uccle. Furthermore, the regulation adopted by the other municipalities was legally questionable in that appeals could have been lodged by quad bike users, who could have had the text overturned, particularly with regard to the definition of the vehicle. In any case, these are the reasons why we did not follow this approach.”

Brussels Mobility spokesperson Camille Thiry confirmed that "Uccle has been left out of the signage".

“There are signs on the roads at the border between Uccle and the neighbouring Brussels municipalities and around the entire perimeter of the region outside Uccle,” Thiry said, adding that the ban has overall been effective.

For 2023, 2024 and the first few months of 2025, not a single report has been filed against a quad bike user in the Brussels-North police zone, for example.