Oudenaarde (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Mathieu Mas received a prison term of 6 months alongside a 4,000 euro fine, and a one-year driving ban was imposed on him following his involvement in a fatal traffic collision as Oudenaarde alderman. A cyclist died following Mas’s impact with the young man, who was 22, while riding in Oudenaarde.
Mathieu Mas received a six-month suspended prison sentence, €4,000 fine, and his driving license was suspended for one year (half of the term suspended) after his involvement in a fatal collision occurred in October 2023. Mas received his conviction after the court established he drove under intoxication (three times beyond legal limits) with excessive speed to kill a young cyclist.
Due to the combination of cannabis intoxication (three times the legal limit), the victim did not yield, had no bike lights, wore dark clothes and used earphones. Despite the prosecution’s request for a stricter penalty, the court emphasised that while Mas’s actions had “catastrophic consequences,” he was not deemed a habitual traffic offender.
“Mas is not a traffic criminal, but he did make a wrong decision with catastrophic consequences,”
The court said.
“The consequences are too serious to grant the favor of suspension.”
What is the history of road accidents in East Flanders and Belgium?
The Flemish Region of Belgium, including Oudenaarde, can trace its background of road accident data management and analysis through time. The systematic collection of road accident statistics by the country started in 1926, allowing researchers to track road safety progress for nine decades.
Road accident fatalities, together with injuries, decreased significantly throughout Belgium during the past period. The nationwide road traffic accidents in 2023 amounted to 36,855 while producing 45,243 casualties at an average of about 1.2 victims per accident.
The road death numbers throughout East Flanders and the rest of the Flemish Region have decreased by more than half since 2005, leading to 270 deaths in 2023 according to recent statistics. This represents a 4% decline from 2022. Of the victims seeking medical attention from traffic incidents in the region during 2023, there were 2,297 who suffered serious injuries, according to official statistics.
In Flanders for 2023, cyclists equalled the number of passenger car occupants who died in traffic fatalities, with both groups representing 33% of total deaths.
Recent analysis reveals that East Flanders stands as one of the regions with the highest incidence of accidents, which involves 25.9 accidents per 100 km of road alongside 3.0 victims per 100 km.
East Flanders is one of the regions that produce the largest number of traffic casualties for every kilometer of road. The total road deaths in Belgium reached 540 in 2022, while the mortality rate per 100,000 population stood at 4.6, and bicycle accidents accounted for 12% of all road deaths.
Belgian cyclist fatalities have shown a marginal increase over the last decade as overall fatalities decreased in contrast to EU average death statistics. All these data show that cyclists continue to face persistent dangers on the roads while requiring ongoing safety measures to protect them.
