The Belgian Traffic Institute Vias calls them ‘courtesy lights’ and hopes that motorists will pull over for cars with such a lamp. The idea for these green flashing lights comes from Canada.
This is a pilot project that started in April. At the time, the Belgian traffic institute distributed green flashing lights to volunteer firefighters. Thanks to these courtesy lights, they must be recognizable to other road users when they are on their way to the barracks for an urgent intervention.
The pilot project will last eight months. During that period, the Vias Institute, commissioned by the Belgian Ministry of Mobility and Transport, will examine whether the flashing lights have an effect on arrival times. The impact on the sense of safety of the fire volunteers is also being studied.
Four fire zones
Initially, it concerns four zones where the flashing lights will be introduced: Emergency zone Luxembourg, Walloon Brabant, Kempen (province of Antwerp) and the province of East Flanders. In the first four months they drive around without special lights, in the last four months with. It is examined whether the volunteers arrive faster at the barracks, whether other road users are courteous to them and whether the volunteers feel safe when they drive with those lights on.
Belgian firefighters volunteers must – just like in the Netherlands – come to the barracks as soon as possible when called. They do this with their own car, so that it is not clear to other road users that they are volunteers who are on their way to an emergency call. The green light can change that, but it is not a safe conduct not to respect the traffic regulations.
Canada
Vias borrowed the idea from a number of Canadian provinces such as Québec, where a similar system exists. The reason for the initiative is a bill by MPs Marianne Verhaert and Jasper Pillen. “It is about the recognisability of the volunteer on the road. This light has already become established in many countries, we now want to check the added value for Belgium,” said the members of parliament.
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