Excessive speed, the scourge of the roads in Wallonia: 70 deaths and nearly 2,000 injured each year
Excessive or inappropriate speed is the main cause of road accidents, recalled the Walloon Road Safety Agency (AWSR) in a press release on Tuesday.
Published on 05/07/2024 at 07:01
According to his estimates, every year 70 people lose their lives in speed-related accidents and nearly 2,000 others are injured in Wallonia. It is therefore launching a new awareness campaign to make users aware of this reality and encourage them to drive more slowly because “slowing down is seeing things coming”.
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According to a recent AWSR survey, nearly one in six motorists (15%) say they frequently exceed speed limits. It is within zones limited to 30 km/h that most drivers admit to exceeding the limits at least sometimes (73% compared to 66% in zone 50 and 63% on roads limited to 90 km/h). Serious speeding (more than 30 km/h), however, is more common on roads where the maximum authorized speed is higher.
However, a higher speed leads to longer reaction and braking distances and greater impact force in the event of a collision, underlines the AWSR. Furthermore, at high speeds, any driver lacks control. Their perception of the environment is less good, which can lead them to neglect or misinterpret important elements such as signs or traffic lights as well as the presence of other users.
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However, unexpected events are common on the road. One in two Walloon drivers say they have had to apply emergency braking or have had to move suddenly over the last three months, due to an unforeseen situation or element.
In this context of unpredictability, driving slower confers a valuable advantage: time. “By reducing speed, a driver significantly increases the time he or she will have to assess situations and react appropriately,” concludes the AWSR.
