Forgotten 1972 Belgian Road Disaster Linked to Heatwave

On a summer morning in 1972, the Belgian town of Nossegem was shattered by the screech of brakes and a violent impact. At the intersection of the Brussels-Leuven highway and the Mechelen-Tervuren road, two vehicles collided with devastating force.

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On July 19, 1972, 8 people died in a serious traffic accident in Nossegem, when 2 cars collided at an intersection with defective traffic lights.

One was a small Opel Kadett carrying four workers from Antwerp to a construction site. The other, a powerful Chevrolet Impala with a V8 engine, held four Yugoslavian laborers. The collision reduced both vehicles to unrecognizable wrecks. Emergency services at the scene recovered five bodies, with three more victims succumbing to their injuries in the hospital later that day.

The immediate cause of the tragedy was attributed to malfunctioning traffic lights. Witnesses reported seeing all lights flash simultaneously, suggesting a complete failure. The responsibility quickly escalated to the national level, involving the Ministry of Public Works, which managed the traffic signals.

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The cause was a technician who had a heatstroke and could not repair the lights on time – the lights were flashing orange at the time of the accident.

Initially, Minister Jos De Saeger blamed the local mayor for not reporting the defect promptly and failing to implement traffic control measures. However, ten days later, the minister retracted his accusations in a communiqué. The true culprit, it emerged, was a technician from the maintenance company who had fallen ill due to a severe heatwave, preventing him from repairing the lights in time. The lights were left on a flashing orange setting, a dangerous ambiguity at a busy intersection.

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The forgotten drama dates back to the dramatic year 1972 when 3,101 people died in traffic in Belgium, a historic record partly explained by the lack of driving exams, speed controls, and safety features in cars.

This forgotten disaster occurred during Belgium's most tragic year on the roads. In 1972, a record 3,101 people died in traffic accidents across the country. This grim statistic was exacerbated by a general lack of road safety awareness, the absence of mandatory driving tests, insufficient speed controls, and rudimentary safety features in vehicles. The Nossegem crash, a stark reminder of this era, underscores the critical need for robust infrastructure and a vigilant approach to road safety.

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All doubted the cause of the accident: the traffic lights had not been working properly for days.