On Saturday, 114 empty seats will be set up in the center of Uden during the seventh edition of ‘De Benge Chair’. They face the number of fatal traffic victims last year in Brabant. In 2024, 675 people were killed in 2024 in 2024 due to a traffic accident. Most victims fell in our province, so 114.
“It makes a huge impression when you see all those empty seats for people from Brabant who have not come home anymore. You will be silent,” says provincial administrator Stijn Smeulders with mobility in his portfolio. With the action De Lege Chair campaign, the province asks attention to road safety and reducing the number of road deaths. “When you see those seats, you will also think about your own behavior in traffic.”
“Last year there were just as many cyclists as motorists died in traffic.”
“There are more than I thought and they are often younger than I expected. That is terrible to see,” says Anita van Boxtel, who, together with her daughter Taia, looks at the cards hanging on the seats. “It would be better if everyone would drive a bit quieter and not just think: I have to be somewhere quickly. Then maybe fewer accidents would happen.”
“Many people mainly think of cars when it comes to traffic accidents,” Smeulders continues. “But cyclists are very vulnerable and therefore form half the number of fatalities. They also go harder and harder on those electric bicycles, so we call as a province to wear a helmet on those fast bikes. Because such a helmet really helps to prevent fatalities from falling.” To stimulate the wearing of bicycle helmets, the province has set up a voucher promotion with which people can purchase a bicycle helmet with a discount.
“For all the relatives of the 114 empty seats that are here, life will never be the same again, the ellende is really terrible”
Nelly Vollebregt is chairman of the Vereniging Traffic Victims. She is also a traffic victim herself, but is lucky that she can retell her accident.
“On 27 August 2012 I rode my racing bike when I was hit head-on on a Dijkweg along the Merwede. The 19-year-old motorist who met me was busy with his phone. He was scrolling through his music and drove almost eighty kilometers per hour, while you can only have sixty,” she says. The blow immediately fell out of consciousness. Her intestines, liver and center reef tore, she broke her pelvis, legs and arms, and her hand was almost completely separated from her arm. She ended up in a coma and barely survived.
“For me, but also for all the relatives of the 114 empty seats that are here, life will never be the same again,” Vollebregt continues. “The misery is really terrible.”
