Worrying: one in three Belgians does not feel safe while driving in their city
A study carried out in 39 European cities looks at the feeling of security their inhabitants have when they use the roads to travel. The results for Brussels, Antwerp and Namur are not very good.
Journalist in the General Editorial Office
Published on 09/13/2024 at 06:30
This study was carried out by Cyclomedia which presents its “Urban Road Safety” index. It was carried out in 39 European cities, with 11,982 people questioned from May 30 to June 30, 2024. It allows us to know, particularly when we plan to visit a foreign country, where it is easier to drive. Whether by car or by bike.
The city where residents feel the least safe when traveling is Athens. 48% feel insecure and 20% even feel very insecure when they get behind the wheel or handlebars. Three southern cities follow: Rome, Milan and Marseille. We are a little surprised to see Amsterdam and Prague in such a bad position. That of Paris seems more normal to us.
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Just behind them, we discover Antwerp and Brussels. 35% of Antwerp residents and 34% of Brussels residents feel in danger when they drive on the streets of their city. It’s a lot. The third and last city surveyed in Belgium is Namur. With 29% of drivers/cyclists who do not feel safe, it ranks 15e place.
The cities where residents feel safest are Tallinn in Estonia (88%), Murcia in Spain (87%), Tampere and Helsinki in Finland (86%), Zaragoza in Spain (86%), Oslo and Munich ( 84%).
Long live Spain!
“In terms of safety, would you recommend people to come and live in your city? ”, was the second question. The “yes” vote was most often cited in four Spanish cities which are first in the ranking: Zaragoza (83%), Seville (82%), Valencia (81%) and Murcia (80%). The worst in terms of “no” are Rome (88%), Amsterdam (68%) and Athens (66%). In Antwerp, 53% answered “yes”, compared to 54% in Brussels and 73% in Namur where people are therefore more encouraging.
To the question: “Are you afraid of having an accident while using the roads in your city?” », 56% of Romans respond in the affirmative, compared to 48% of Athenians and 47% of Parisians. 37% of Brussels residents think so, it’s the 6the worst result. Antwerp residents are 31% and Namur residents 20%.
Then come a little more specific questions. Thus, 36% of Antwerp residents say that they would cycle less if we imposed the wearing of helmets on those over 18 (on 5e European result) for 32% of Brussels residents. Namur residents are the last to say this with “only” 17% saying that they would drive less if it were compulsory to wear a helmet.
One in four Walloons does not respect safety distances
Impose 30 an hour in your city to improve security? The Belgians tend to agree even if this is already the case in many streets in Brussels. 65% of Namur residents are there compared to 61% of Brussels and Antwerp residents. If the Milanese are the least likely to use a hands-free kit when they call while driving (89% do not do so), the people of Namur (77%) and the people of Brussels (70%) are not very good students either. Antwerp residents do a little better with 44% using it. This still means that 56% do not do so.
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