Carl Decaluwé, governor of West Flanders: “Use those signs, then the road user knows that he has to adapt. But above all: when the works are done and the road has been cleaned up, put away those signs. I think it is important that – if something is wrong – they call the police. The police come on site and see what can be done. That saves a lot of pointless interventions by the fire brigade.”
Continue to raise awareness
The ‘Mud on the Road’ campaign has existed for 25 years. Diksmuide was allowed to thoroughly evaluate the campaign, in consultation with farmers and civil society. Koen Coupillie, mayor of Diksmuide: “Since the campaign started in 2000, there has not been a single fatality. So it works. But we have to continue to make the new farmers aware: work with those signs. I think Diksmuide has around 300 km of its own roads. That is a lot. We have a lot of farmers and contractors who also have to use those roads.”
Courtesy
From now on, the campaign will also focus more on courtesy in traffic. Isabelle De Wispelaere, chairman of the Diksmuide Agriculture Council: “The material is becoming larger, which is inherent to economies of scale. In that sense, we hope that suppliers will also be courteous on the road and thus contribute to the safety of vulnerable road users.”
The province also asks cities and municipalities to equip rural roads with sufficient emergency lanes.