Touring Club Belgium (TCB) published the results of a survey on the attitude of Belgians towards traffic safety rules (such as the use of seat belt and bike helmets), revealing that a lot of Belgians still disregard many rules when it comes to their own safety or that of their children.

Regarding seat belt use,  7% of Belgians (1 in 14) do not buckle up. Age clearly plays an important role: only 87% of people among 18-24 years olds wears seat belt, while almost all people over 55 (97%) do wear their belts. More alarmingly, only 80% of respondents declare to buckle up their children: this means children do not wear the seat belt in one in five families. Belgian cyclists also score poorly: only 50% of adults and 60% of children wear helmets.

The study looked also into Belgian attitudes towards new vehicle safety technology: 7 in 10 Belgians find that the presence of driver assistance systems, such as the blind spot detector, is rather important when buying a new car. Furthermore, 78% of Belgians do not mind black boxes or applications that record driving behaviour.

Belgians are however rather sceptical about autonomous cars: 6 out of 10 Belgians (59%) have serious doubts about this technology drastically reducing the number of car accidents.

Read more news from FIA Region I