Driving mentality

1. Shout loud. Very loud.
2. Kick the car, dent the door, fill in insurance form for your "foot injury"
3. Carry a book (preferably in a bag that has a brick in the bottom), and let it hit the car rather than you.
4. If you do get hit, the car driver's insurance pays all your bills

5. Beware - Belgian law has found pedestrians to be partially responsible for their own accidents, so you still have a legal duty of care to yourself.

He has to hose your blood of his car once he gets safely home. Can be quite annoying, especially the grille. That will teach him/her!

An elderly man in his late 70s was killed on a zebra crossing yesterday in Jurbise, near Mons. The driver of the car is not considered responsible. Evidently the man hesitated before crossing the road. Do not confuse zebra crossings in Belgium with ones in the UK, here the stripes on the road are purely decorative.

First of all, you have to know the law. In Brussels drivers are supposed to stop for zebras not for pedestrians.

no penalty for the driver - how dare you be in his way?!

Every day in Brussels streets I am encountering people who run onto the Zebra crossing without looking whether a car is coming, looking into a different direction, or intensely talking to their partner without taking notice of the environment.

You are supposed to watch out first and establish eye contact with the driver before heading into your fate.

Better to be safe than sorry... I go with the advice of passive energy, always establish eye contact, so you know they have seen you. When you drive in busy traffic, often there is so much to pay attention to, that sometimes you see the pedestrian only at the last moment. (Haven't hit anyone yet!!) Of course, they are plenty of ignorant & rude drivers here. I'd rather not have a broken leg than be right...

Well I am a bit annoyed when pedestrians just cross the road without looking, just in front of your car. That happens too a lot. Luckily I react fast...

I have the same problem as the OP...I walk everywhere!! But I'm surprised at some of the replies because when I took my driving lessons here a while ago, it was one of the first things I asked my instructor. He told me it is a 'faute grave'...I can't remember if 3rd or 4th degree - 'directly endangering someone's life'. He said that unless there are traffic lights at the pedestrian crossing, it is the absolute responsibility of the driver to stop...EVEN if there is a pedestrian on the pavement near the crossing as the pedestrian may corss and the driver must be prepared for this eventuality. I don't klnow what the penalty is for 'faute grave'. However, due to the mentality of the drivers, I now always make direct eye contact with the driver, if they are not driving too fast, to make sure they are aware of my intention. I have been know to kick, shout, punh cars in the past. This is rather frightening as it means I am in the middle of a croossing and what is that car doing so close to me!! BTW - the usual reaction is to not care and shrug or drive off!!!!! Shocking!!