Gent is in Gent more and more cycling, but that also has a downside. More and more cyclists are popping onzacht against each other. In 2018 were staggering 72 bicycle-bicycle accidents heavy enough to be declared to the police. 94 cyclists were so hard without collision that the police in.
On may 17, 2018, the Gents Milieufront 12.462 cyclists during the morning rush hour in Ghent, from 7 to 9 pm. That there were 10% more than on a comparable day in 2017, and even 37% more than in 2014. Also the city council says that bicycle use since the introduction of the circulatieplan remarkably increased. There is even mention of an increase of 25%. Especially on the well-known fietsassen Fisheries and Denomination is sometimes a busy schedule. On the Fishing pass – according to the telpaal there – more than a million riders per year, the Denomination is approaching the 2 million.
And all the fuss has consequences. There is more than ever met, and cases. In 2018, were less than 750 cyclists are involved in an accident where the police was convened. So this all to serious accidents with injuries, or nuisances, and at major intersections. “The number of bicycle accidents that are not reported to the police will be multiples of that figure,” says police chief Filip Rasschaert, “as with most bicycle accidents, especially between fellow cyclists, no police being called. That is the same as car accidents with only scuffs. There you can enter a European collision form in, and no police will come to pass. Also that accidents are not in our statistics.”
Bicycle – bike
The bulk of the heavier accidents with cyclists, there are still between a bike and a car. The police recorded there in 2018, less than 461. A further 19 cyclists collided with a bus or a truck, and 53 with a van. But what is especially striking is that cyclists arranged to clash. The police recorded 72 such accidents in 2018, good for 144 cyclists. And with the large fietsdrukte is that also logical. How many of those accidents, fast(re) electric bikes were involved, was not listed. But it is also logical that faster cyclists, who are less likely to be able to quit, more get involved in accidents.
Councillor Sven Taeldeman can about speaking. He walks around with a packed left shoulder with a muscle tear, after a fall with his electric bike. “I drove in the dark to the house, and crossed another, unlit cyclist. I’ve hard braked to avoid it, but I am therefore on the wet road to ruin has gone. Two years ago, it happened to me already a similar accident with the bike.”
Another remarkable fact: the police noted, also 94 solo accidents with cyclists. This means that there are cyclists who are heavy fall to the ground without collision. The tracks play an ugly role in it.
