RLJing to be legal in Belgium

Cycloslalomeur

Blending English, German and Swedish in appropriate proportions, it seems that our Belgian friends will legalise red light jumping at some junctions when turning right (that would of course be left in Blighty) or carrying straight on while obviously yielding to other traffic. There will also be cycle streets where cyclists are encouraged to take primary and motorists are not allowed to overtake. Perhaps somebody with a better command of Flemish/Dutch than mine could confirm this?

http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/957/Belgie/art ... jden.dhtml

sfichele

Google translate:

From mid-February, cyclists at certain intersections may drive through a red light. Then enter a new cycle regulation in place, so we read in the newspaper The Latest News.
Cycling through a red light at intersections shall be only with the special signs that the new regulations included. These two signs in the shape of an inverted triangle, showing a bicycle and an arrow (that points to the right or straight). Road users to drive through the green, remain always take precedence over cyclists.

The new regulation also provides for "bicycle streets" where two-wheelers across the lane occupied by motorists and take not be overtaken.

"Free-flowing"
State Secretary for Mobility Melchior Wathelet (CDH) hopes that the float measures of movement. They would finally end next week in the Gazette published. The cities and municipalities must then decide where the new road signs and bicycle streets are exactly. Also on regional roads are possible.

"For us, traffic is a lot more pleasant, 'says the Cyclists. "We will no longer many intersections unnecessarily waste time on the red light. And the rat-run traffic will bother us less." (Belga / dea)

Cycloslalomeur

Thanks for reminding me why I hate Google Translate...

Initialised

Makes sense, reduces conflict with other road users.

Cycloslalomeur

Initialised wrote:

Makes sense, reduces conflict with other road users.

Motorists who have their brains switched on will obviously realise that they're better off without a flock of cyclists gathering behind the advanced stop line waiting for the lights to turn green but I fear that some will simply fail to realise this and fume at the sight of cyclists jumping lights and use this as an excuse to bully them down the road. Think "road tax".

On a personal note this rule vexes me to no end as a couple of years back I was fined 160 euros for (very gingerly) jumping a red at a junction in Brussels... Not a very smart thing to do as said junction is yards from a primary school and a police station. I hadn't noticed that a motorbike policeman had pulled out of the station behind me.

meanredspider

Belgium, IIRC fromn the time I lived there, is one of the countries where the car insurance picks up the tab for a cyclist's injuries regardless who was at fault - that tends to alter the balance of power on the roads.

Headhuunter

I think in a lot of European countries, RLJ-ing is pretty normal, just as in this country it's normal for pedestrians to cross on the red man when the road is clear (in some countries this is illegal "jaywalking"). Certainly on visits to the Netherlands and Belgium and even France, I've seen cyclists RLJ and ride on the pavement quite frequently. It's just a question of perception and attitude, in the UK RLJ-ing stirs up absolute fury and general over reaction whereas on the continent it's seen in the same light as pedestrians crossing willy nilly is here.

bigmat

Cycloslalomeur wrote:

Initialised wrote:

On a personal note this rule vexes me to no end as a couple of years back I was fined 160 euros for (very gingerly) jumping a red at a junction in Brussels... Not a very smart thing to do as said junction is yards from a primary school and a police station. I hadn't noticed that a motorbike policeman had pulled out of the station behind me.

I do love the Belgians - would love to see this common sense approach emulated over in the UK. As for your fine, that seems very harsh - I'm pretty sure I was fined less for drunk and disorderly over there! I do recall the cycle-police had to be watched out for though, especially after dark...