In the Belgian capital Brussels, since yesterday January 1st 2021, with a few exceptions, a speed limit of 30 km / h. The police have announced strict controls. This is the first step in Elke Van den Brandt’s ambitious project to initiate a traffic turnaround in Belgium. The Green politician Van den Brandt is Mobility Minister of the Brussels-Capital Region.

Motorists “no longer welcome” “Motorists should simply no longer feel welcome in the city,” she said at the start of the new speed limit, according to tagesschau.de. It has been pushing the conversion of urban traffic since the beginning 2020, the pandemic has brought it forward faster and has ensured greater acceptance. The politician names Oslo as a role model, also because hardly any people there have accidents in road traffic.

In May 2020 the city had already dared , each district in the inner ring (pentagons, round 50. 000 Residents) to become a priority zone for cyclists and pedestrians for a limited time. For three months there was a speed limit of 20 km / h in the city center. Traffic lights were switched to flashing yellow. Brussels’ Mayor Philippe Close called this the test of a “vélorution”.

In an interview with the news portal Politico appeased Mobility Minister Van den Brandt, drivers shouldn’t be banned from the city entirely. In fact, the project sounds more revolutionary than it actually is: Already in the year 2019 were more than 50 Percentage of the streets of Brussels with speed 30.

(hob)