Why Ascension Day is the most dangerous day of the year on the road in Belgium and Germany | Car

In Germany, Ascension Day coincides with Father’s Day. This is not, like in the Netherlands, a tradition where fathers receive a gift and breakfast in bed, but above all a moment when many men go out to drink together, preferably without women. Barbecuing and a pub crawl are also often on the programme. On this day, according to accident research by Unfallforschung der Versicherer (UDV), three times as many traffic accidents occur under the influence of alcohol as usual.

According to data from 2019, the last year before corona, 263 traffic accidents involving alcohol were reported in Germany on Ascension Day. On an average day there are 98 in Germany.

Ascension Day is also the most dangerous day in Belgian traffic, the Belgian traffic institute VIAS reported last year. In total, fifteen deaths occurred on Ascension Day in five years. On average, 1.3 people per day died in traffic in Belgium last year. Because many companies also use Friday as a day off, people in Belgium often drink on terraces and during barbecues on Thursdays. According to VIAS, alcohol abuse is the cause of the extra deaths on Ascension Day; Alcohol is said to be involved in 20 percent of accidents resulting in fatalities or injuries.

“In the Netherlands, Ascension Day does not stand out negatively in terms of traffic accidents,” said a spokesperson for Veilig Verkeer Nederland. “We actually only have Christmas and New Year’s Eve days on which many extra accidents occur, because people then get behind the wheel more often than average while drinking,” said the spokesperson. “Ascension Day does not have that tradition here.”

What are the most dangerous provincial roads in the Netherlands? You can read all about it in this article from Autoweek.

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