On Thursday, Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) announced that there will be more checks in Flanders on the overtaking ban for trucks during precipitation – and that by means of systems with precipitation sensors and smart cameras. According to the road safety center Vias, however, the overtaking ban makes little sense. “It does not reduce the number of accidents during precipitation,” says Vias spokesperson Stef Willems.
The ban has been in the federal highway code since 2014 and means that trucks of 7.5 tons are not allowed to overtake in rainy weather. The rule does not apply to coaches and buses. Enforcing the ban has always been a difficult matter. In the past there were plans to work with ANPR cameras and pluviometers, but that project never really got off the ground. On Thursday, Minister Peeters announced that there will be new systems, including rain sensors and smart cameras. These are currently already being tested in two places in our country, in Bertem and Erpe-Mere.
No drop in accidents
Vias traffic center would rather see the overtaking ban disappear. According to the institute’s spokesperson, trucks cannot ‘aquaplane’ (whereby a thin layer of water is formed between the tires and the road surface and the vehicle becomes uncontrollable, ed.) because they have “very good road holding”. “In addition, mud flaps are mandatory, which already solves the problem to a large extent,” it sounds.
According to Vias, the main reason for withdrawing the ban is that the number of accidents during precipitation does not decrease as a result of the rule. “In the figures on accidents involving trucks and passenger cars during precipitation, we do not see any difference between the traffic situation before the introduction of the ban and after,” says Willems. “And that should normally be the objective of such a measure,” he emphasizes.
Neighboring countries
Vias underlines that Belgium is one of the few countries where the ban applies. In neighboring countries, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, for example, there is no specific ban on overtaking trucks in the event of precipitation. In Germany, trucks of 7.5 tons and above are not allowed to overtake if visibility is less than 50 meters due to mist, fog, rain or snowfall. In France, vehicles over 3.5 tons and tows longer than 7 meters are not allowed to overtake or change traffic when there is snow or sleet on the roadway.
“It doesn’t rain more in Belgium than in our neighboring countries, so there is no specific reason why the rule only applies in our country,” Willems concludes.
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