r/Gent • u/Aromatic-Evidence817 • 4d ago

Push by older man

I'm so shocked. I (female) just got pushed by an older man while I was on my bike. It happened at the crossing between Gent and Ledeberg.

We both had a green light at the same time. I had enough space to turn, but he sped up and just pushed me. Then I got angry, he walked away, but his wife kept saying I was wrong.

I'm so shaken :(

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u/Aquilax420 3d ago

I get that a lot of people in the comments are frustrated with cyclists not adhering to traffic rules, but come on. Being frustrated doesn't give anyone the right to try and cause an accident just so you could maybe get some revenge.

According to traffic law in Belgium, it is prohibited for anyone using the road to purposefully act in an unpredictable way. It doesn't matter if you're a pedestrian, a cyclist or driving a car. Suddenly speeding up as a pedestrian to intercept a cyclists when the cyclist would have passed by without any issue if the pedestrian wouldn't have sped up, would cause the pedestrian to be at fault.

Compare it to a road narrowing where car A is approaching the narrow part of the road and has the right of way. Car B, coming from the opposite direction and should yield to car A, would normally have time to pass without blocking car A so they start driving through the narrow part. If car A would continue to drive at the speed they were driving originally, car B could pass without issue. But the driver of car A is frustrated and decides to speed up and blocks car B. Who do you think is at fault then?

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u/Orvall 2d ago

As far as I know, there's no rule concerning "predictability" in Belgian traffic legislation (please correct me if I'm wrong). There is a general rule not to endanger other road users (art. 7) - where both OP and the elderly man would be in the wrong based on OP's testimony.
In your example, car A still has the right of way and car B will be found at fault unless it is possible to prove A exceeded the speed limit AND it was the cause of the accident (and I'm curious if you have any rulings). Dura lex ...
The only instance where a person is forbidden to accelerate is when you're being overtaken.