Road Safety: the corridor for the emergency services
Source: Federal Police / DGA / DAH
Original publication date: 22.06.2023
Author: Commissioner Olivier Quisquater
It is important to come back to the emergency corridor once again, because it is still not respected enough in practice. As you can see as soon as you are caught in a traffic jam, compliance with this rule, although it has been the subject of a communication campaign recently, still leaves something to be desired. When and how should an emergency corridor be created?
It's quite simple in the end. In the event of a traffic jam on a multi-lane road, motorists should make sure to leave space to form an emergency emergency lane.
In concrete terms, vehicles on the leftmost lane will have to keep as far to the left as possible, and those in the right lane or on the rightmost lanes will have to keep as far to the right as possible. This will create a corridor in which emergency services, tow trucks or services required by the police will be able to progress more easily. If drivers on the left are starting to think about doing so now, this is unfortunately much less the case for drivers in the central and right-hand lanes. And so, the space left for the hallway is less than it could be.
However, as soon as there is a traffic jam, all the drivers caught in it must act to open the lane. It should be noted that this system is not limited to motorways and major national roads. For example, a traffic jam on the inner ring road in Brussels will also require the creation of this corridor, since the inner ring road has at least two traffic lanes. And it is to be done on the initiative, because let's emphasize it again, you should not wait for an emergency vehicle to be approaching to think about it.
It should also be remembered that motorcyclists can also benefit from the emergency lane. This emergency lane is indeed located where motorcyclists are allowed to sneak in in case of traffic jams. The well-applied emergency lane will therefore also help them.
However, motorcyclists who go up the queues should be reminded that they are supposed to do so at a very moderate speed, i.e. a maximum of 20 km/h faster than the motorists around them (and not more than 50 km/h in total), and that it is not their role to play the police in the event of non-compliance with the rule. While motorcyclists can ride in the emergency lane, they must however give way to other vehicles that have the right to use the emergency lane.
As the summer holidays approach, it is also good to know that the emergency lane applies in other countries as well. This is the case in Luxembourg, Germany or Switzerland, for example, so adapt!