New figures published by the road safety institute Vias show that 1 in 4 drivers that are killed in road accidents in which no other vehicle was involved were not wearing a seatbelt. The figures are even higher among van drivers. In Belgium 40% of van drivers killed in accidents in which only their own vehicle was involved were not wearing a seatbelt.
The wearing of seatbelts in the front of vehicles has been mandatory in Belgium for 50 years. Currently 95% of drivers and front seat passengers belt up. Meanwhile, 79% of backseat passengers wear a seatbelt. The wearing of seatbelts in the back of cars has been mandatory in Belgium since 1991.
Researchers from Vias examined data from every fatal road accident in which only one motor vehicle was involved from the past 10 years. They found that 27% of those killed had not been wearing a seatbelt. Among those that died in accidents on the motorway 33% had not belted up. Among van drivers 4 out of 10 were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.
More than 230 fatalities
In Wallonia 93% of drivers and front seat passengers say that they wear a seatbelt. In the Brussels-Capital Region this is 98% and in Flanders 95%. 94% of men say that they also belt up in the front of a vehicle, while 96% of women say they do so. People aged 25 and younger are less likely to belt up when in the front of a vehicle than older people (92% compared with 95%).
A person not wearing a seatbelt is 5 times more likely to die if their vehicle is involved in an accident. During the past decade more than 230 people that weren’t wearing a seatbelt while in the front of a vehicle died on Belgium’s roads in accidents in which no other party was involved. In addition to this there are the fatalities in accidents in which more than one vehicle was involved.