More traffic deaths on motorways

2 July 2007

BRUSSELS – 2006 was the third consecutive year to see an increase in traffic deaths on motorways and large regional roads. Last year 184 people died in traffic accidents, up from 179 in 2005 and 158 in 2004.

Most of the increase was due to deaths on the 1,800 km of motorways in Belgium. Fewer deaths were due to accidents on the 330 km of regional roads. The number of serious injuries also increased, the number of minor injuries decreased slightly.

The federal police published its annual report on Monday. The first figures for 2007 show that there has been some improvement this year, the police say. In the first trimester of 2007 there were 35 deaths, compared to 45 in the same period in 2006.

The federal police figures also showed that the number of break-ins at homes increased by 12 percent, the first increase in years. There was a slight increase in the number of car thefts and the number of illegal aliens apprehended.

Subject: Belgian news