Belgium ranked worst in European traffic behaviour survey

Not even half of Belgian drivers are calm or relaxed behind the wheel. This makes Belgium the frontrunner in terms of traffic stress, according to the European Vinci Foundation's study on dangerous and inappropriate traffic behaviour in eleven European countries.

The study also showed that Belgian drivers are "champions in confusing bike lanes with parking lots and are honking too much", writes the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.

One in five drivers admitted to sometimes parking their car on the bike lane, despite a possible €116 fine. According to the survey, only in the Netherlands were drivers slightly more disrespectful to two-wheeled vehicles.

Another dangerous traffic behaviour that is on the rise in Belgium: "forgetting" to use the direction indicator, which happens to more than half of the drivers. 

Belgium also scored highly for going through the orange or red in the first second. When it comes to not slowing down at road works, Belgian drivers are even the European champions with 63 percent.

Only 47% are calm in their cars, the lowest percentage of all countries surveyed. Nearly six out of ten Belgian drivers say they honk when they get nervous in traffic. Only Spanish and Greek drivers make more noise.

Traffic jams can play a role: both Brussels and Antwerp invariably scored very high on lists of European cities with the worst congestion.

(VIV)

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© BELGA PHOTO (DIRK WAEM)