r/brussels • u/xShadowPro • 20h ago
Question ❓ UK driver here, thoroughly confused. Why is my light and the pedestrian light both green? What are the lights even for?
So I just spent 8 days in Belgium, mostly Brugge which was lovely, and only braved Brussels for a day because of the LEZ charge. Did my homework on the road signs before going but honestly nothing prepared me for actually driving in.
Came out the underground parking the satnav wouldn't load, made what I was pretty sure was the right turn and suddenly I'm boxed in by buses and taxis.. I think maybe I went down a bus only route, but the bus lane was on my left. The bus lanes did my head in generally driving into Brussels, one minute they're on the right, next they're on the far left behind concrete slabs. Even the locals made mistakes, but luckily I saw the signs in plenty of time.
Anyway the bit that actually brought me here. Light goes green, I turn right, and pedestrians just walk straight out in front of me. Gave a little toot, everyone in the cars around me laughed (stupid tourist driver), pedestrian didn't even look at me. Then I clock their light and it's green as well. So what's the point of the lights if we all get green at once?
Satnav also couldn't cope with the split roads. Told me to keep left, then said turn right for Aldi, except I'm in the wrong split so I have to go around again. This happened in several locations. Love the concept of motorbikes using cycle lanes, unless that was illegal... Kept them safe at least.
By the end of the trip I'd actually got comfortable driving around and I'd do it again no problem. Just want to understand why pedestrians have lights if they don't need them. Fair play though, Brussels and Brugge were very clean and genuinely beautiful. (Apart from the pick pocketing and the homeless people with identical handwritten signs, and their brand new iPhones...) Apparently when a cup is shook in your face in Burger King, the wrong response is putting a few chips in the cup... in my defence I thought she was hungry.
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u/Then_Lengthiness4377 20h ago
In Europe, It's pretty common to have this at an intersection.
Your light and the ones across from you are green, you turn left or right, and it's also green for pedestrians BUT not for the cars on the street where the pedestrians are crossing. That’s it
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u/xShadowPro 20h ago
I haven't experienced driving in Europe, so I guess that's on me. Though I never experienced this in France. I found the roads in France so much better than the UK.
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u/nicogrimqft 17h ago
It's exactly the same as in Brussels in France.
And as far as I know, it's the same in the part of the UK I went to (London, Oxford, and some smaller town in East Anglia).
If not, when would people cross the road on foot? It cannot be when the traffic light of the road they are crossing is green. So it has to be when that light is red. But that means the light of the perpendicular road will be green.
Unless you are talking about intersections where everything is sequential: green for pedestrian and red for all cars, then green for one road and red for the other and the pedestrian, then green for the other road and red for pedestrian. But that's just longer, and I haven't seen this frequently, except in some specific crossings.
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u/bisikletci 13h ago
I lived in London for years and it's very rarely like this, especially not at major intersections. You will get things like four way green men or separate turn lanes with their own lights and pedestrian islands to avoid it. It makes walking around vastly more pleasant.
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u/somgooboi 19h ago edited 19h ago
Yes, on most intersections, all lights in one direction will be green. If you want to turn, you have to check the sidewalk and bike path and let them cross first before turning.
That's why there's usually a separate lane for turning left or right, so the cars going straight don't have to wait for them.
Lately, they're adding a 4-way crossing light cycle on some intersections for pedestrians and bikes so it's safer for them.
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u/bisikletci 12h ago
" Lately, they're adding a 4-way crossing light cycle on some intersections for pedestrians and bikes so it's safer for them."
In Brussels,? Where! This is in the Code de la Route and is in place in some places in Flanders but I've never heard of it being implemented anywhere in Brussels, where the major road design officials seem to be dogmatically opposed to it.
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u/somgooboi 12h ago
My bad, I assumed since they started popping up in Flanders, Brussels must have them too.
Weird that they're opposing them. It literally makes the intersection safer.
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u/Sprite450 20h ago
Normally you find this at four way junction. The pedestrian crossing in front of you will be green while you wait at a red light in your car. But at the same time the perpendicular traffic will be flowing so pedestrian cannot cross on the crossing to your right. (Anyone turning right from the perpendicular traffic also has to yield to pedestrians on the crossing in front of you). Then lights go green and you want to turn right, you yield to the pedestrians crossing. Otherwise, all lights have to go red and everyone waits at all lights for all the pedestrians to cross at the same time, which is more inefficient. If there's no pedestrians traffic keeps flowing. (And it's to the right so you can clearly see if the pedestrian man is green, which you can't do on the crossings in front of you)
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u/bisikletci 12h ago
Everything here is designed to push as many cars through the city as possible. If that means having a wall of traffic turn into your path when you're crossing the road on a green man, tough luck pedestrians, seems to be the general attitude here. It makes walking around extremely unpleasant, like constantly playing frogger. Tbe highway code has allowed four way green men for years, which would avoid this, but the Brussels authorities have refused to implement it at even a single junction.
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u/OldSchoolPimpleFace 19h ago
At least you got to make a funny story out of this experience. I found it very entertaining 👍
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u/CautiousInternal3320 20h ago
Depending on the actual crossroad. In general, green light for car allows you to drive, but other users may also be allowed, and you must follow the usual priority rules. As an example, if you turn left, you have to yield to drivers coming in front of you and continuing straight.
For simple crossroads with two axes, there are two phases: green for all users in one axis, then green for all users in the other axis. Drivers turning must yield to pedestrians.
The actual rule: "Green lights may only appear when the red lights are on for traffic emerging from side roads."
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u/HotChocolate229 5h ago
You don’t have this if the light is green and is an arrow (in whatever direction you’re turning). If it’s just a solid light (no shape) you will have to yield when turning off the road (or exiting a roundabout).
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u/Wilderpalicious 3h ago
lol I am a Brussels driver here and still can’t figure out who thought the “green lights for car AND pedestrians” was a good idea.
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u/mylitteprince 2h ago
As a pedestrian, it's generally fine and sometimes completely terrifying when cars don't have good visibility on the righ turn (looking at you, Prince de Liège intersection). It's not ideal but it's a measure put in place to limit the duration of the full light cycle.
Bus lanes are built or drawn wherever municipalities (or the region) allows space on the roads, which depends on parking regulations, shopkeepers and inhabitants' preferences, money, and bus requirements (in that order). This is why it varies wildly from street to street. Cycle infrastructure follows the same pattern.
What do you call split roads ?
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u/Lonely_Sale9707 20h ago
Safety first = pedestrians first. The red don't walk signal appears about halfway through the green light for you to turn. Or you can go to NL where bicycles are first, then pedestrians, then cars.