Veurne(Brussels Morning Newspaper) -The E40 motorway just past Veurne became the scene of a fatal accident today, killing a 12-year-old boy. The drunken-driving accident occurred with a car with English licence plates, which was driving towards France when the car flipped over and went on the verge.
The boy was thrown out of the car and died in the accident. Of the six people found in the car, the fifth person was critically injured. The emergency services were triggered by the emergency aid request button in the BMW X5, which made an emergency call to the alarm centre and indicated the position of the overturned car.
A car crash on E40 near Veurne killed a 12-year-old boy as a car overturned in a dreadful mishap. Another occupant was injured, this time more seriously. The next time a coach of the Tyne and Wear Metro touched a police car but did not cause any harm, it did so. This accident happened on the outskirts of France at the boundary of the exit Veurne – on the E40 motorway. To date, no other witnesses have come forward to give more details about the accident. Police are still trying to establish whether it was rainy or snowy or whether there was some ice on the road while the accident was happening. The Official Public Prosecutor has assigned a traffic expert to reconstruct the conditions that led to the crash. In a related accident shortly thereafter, a coach with English number plates swerved onto the hard shoulder and sideswiped a police car that was parked on the shoulder to file a report on the first accident; fortunately, there was no loss of life in the second accident.
Road safety concerns and traffic statistics
This sad incident raises questions about traffic safety in Belgium, specifically during winter, when the freezing climate poses a great threat to safe road use. Hazard data from road safety organisations suggests that the situation with traffic accidents inflicting personal injuries has remained critical in Belgium, with multiple fatal outcomes annually. Road traffic accidents in different age groups caused many deaths and injuries in 2024. The government has been trying to upgrade the safety features of roads and also educate its citizenry on how to be safe on the roads during a storm.
This is not to mention the question of how well disaster preparedness measures and vehicle signalling systems, like automatic crash notification systems that can immediately notify the authorities of the accident, work. They are systems that help people by making sure assistance gets to the scenes of the mishap on time. While other studies go on regarding this specific accident, all drivers should take caution and be more careful with their driving, especially during worse weather or congestion.
That is why, after these latest occurrences, local authorities are likely to inspect traffic laws and rules that are currently in force and discuss possible further actions to avoid such disasters in the future. Everyone will have fondly shed a tear for the life of the young boy who was cut short by this sad incident, as well as pray for the quick recovery of the injured.
