As a motorist, you must make sure you have fluorescent vests in your vehicle. Why is it compulsory? When should you use them and how many reflective vests you have?

In Belgium and many other European countries, you have to put on a fluorescent vest with reflective tape when you leave your broken down vehicle on the road. What does Belgian law say about this?

Mandatory equipment

The fluorescent vest is one of the mandatory items in your vehicle, just like the danger triangle and the first aid kit. If you do not have a fluorescent vest in your cockpit and you get control, you risk a ticket.

Strictly speaking, it is mandatory to have only one vest in your car. It is therefore not necessary to provide a vest for each passenger (potential) of your vehicle. However, you have an interest in going beyond this obligation. From wearing such a vest, passengers are much more visible when they come out of a damaged vehicle. It is therefore important for their safety to have enough vests on board.

When to use them?

You must wear a vest with reflective material, as a driver, you are leaving your car when you are in a place where you cannot stop or park. It is wrong to think that this only applies to motorways. This is not the case. On normal roads, you must also wear a vest. From a strictly legal point of view, your passengers are not obliged to put on such a vest when they leave the vehicle. But for security reasons, they have every interest in doing so.