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Brussels uses its cuisine to encourage road courtesy

by editor
An awareness campaign aimed at encouraging road courtesy and mutual respect on the roads of the Belgian capital was launched on Monday by Minister Bianca Debaets, the Brussels Region’s road-safety minister.
The theme was not chosen by chance: close to 80% of respondents in a 2018 survey found that lack of respect and courtesy among road users heightened the sense of insecurity on the road.

To drive the messages home, campaign slogans aim at a sensitive chord in the hearts of the capital’s road users, the Brussels cuisine. “Courtesy on the road is like mayo on chips: indispensable,” ran one of the campaign’s three main slogans. “Courtesy in traffic is like stoemp and sausage: inseparable,” read another. Still another went: “Respecting traffic is like the chicken in the gratin: unavoidable.”

The campaign, which ends in early April, uses a variety of media: radio spots, posters, placemats for restaurants and bars, social media and trams. “We are insisting in particular on three imperatives in traffic,” said Ms. Debaets, “give way to pedestrians at pedestrian crossings, leave one metre between cars and bicycles when overtaking cyclists, and be the lookout for blind spots.”

The public will be invited to take a more active part in the campaign through placemats and Facebook by proposing slogans linked to its theme. The writers of the most original ones will receive personalised yellow vests with their respective slogans.

Maria Novak

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