That Royal Decree, and specifically Article 3 of it, would come into effect next Thursday, February 1. From then on, the emergency vehicles’ priority vehicles had to turn on their sirens more often in order to navigate through traffic on the way to an emergency.
Today, according to the letter of the law, in most cases the flashing light alone was sufficient. But according to Gilkinet, road safety would benefit if the emergency services, when they drive as a priority, also use their sirens more often, as they are not only clearly visible but also clearly audible to other road users, for example pedestrians.
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Crazy proposal
Despite advice from numerous experts, the De Croo government is now backtracking on that measure. There had been strong criticism in recent days, including from the Flanders Fire Brigade Association (BVV), which feared for sleep at night, now that the fire brigade had to use the siren much more often, even at night on completely deserted roads, if necessary.
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Minister Gilkinet received criticism from various quarters for his royal decision. — © BELGA
At the beginning of this week, Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever (N-VA) and Ghent mayor Mathias De Clercq (Open VLD) also called the proposal “complete madness” and “totally absurd” respectively. For example, according to both mayors, it would become impossible to catch burglars or vandals in the act, because they would be able to hear the police siren from far away.
Huge inconvenience
On Tuesday, the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (VVSG), the mayors’ union, also joined in this criticism. Just like the Fire Brigade Network. “This will cause a nuisance to the neighborhood, with many complaints also from citizens about night noise,” said the VVSG, which emphasizes that neither the emergency services nor the mayors were asked for advice in advance.
After consultation with Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden (CD&V), among others, Gilkinet is now shelving the new rules regarding priority driving. “In certain specific circumstances, the use of the siren can indeed cause inconveniences, for example when a burglary is in full swing, or the new regulations can cause disproportionate noise pollution at night,” said Gilkinet.
“In certain specific circumstances, the use of the siren can indeed cause inconveniences”
Georges Gilkinet
Minister of Mobility (Ecolo)
Discussions are now taking place again to see whether the current rules would be sufficient and whether, if necessary, more fine-grained adjustments to the current legislation are necessary.
Finally, Gilkinet emphasizes for the sake of clarity that, as far as he is concerned, the new rules “never meant that emergency services would be systematically obliged to use both flashing lights and sirens. At the same time, I want to avoid that the new rules undermine the ability of our emergency services to respond effectively.” (wer)