Where could Charleroi put new “attention chevaux” signs, and what should drivers know?

Practical takeaway: Charleroi residents should not expect new horse-warning signs immediately. The city is reported to be looking at where future A24 “attention chevaux” signs could be useful, but the sign is not expected to become part of Belgium’s legal road-sign system until June 2027. Until then, drivers, riders and local residents should treat the issue as a planning signal: identify roads where horses regularly mix with cars, report unsafe spots to the commune, and follow the existing Code de la route rules for sharing the public road. The local question is simple. Charleroi has urban arteries, village-like former communes, wooded edges and recreational routes within the same municipal territory. A horse on the road is not only a rural image: riders may appear near green edges around Marcinelle and Mont-sur-Marchienne, routes toward Loverval and Gerpinnes, or roads connecting stables, fields and leisure areas to the wider Charleroi network. A warning sign can help, but it is not a substitute for speed management, visibility, road design and predictable behaviour by all users. For everyday drivers, the useful rule is conservative: slow early, leave generous lateral distance, avoid horn use, sudden acceleration and close overtaking, and wait if the rider signals that the horse is nervous. For riders, the practical point is visibility and route discipline: use reflective equipment in poor light, avoid busy fast roads where a calmer route exists, and check whether the route is a communal road, a regional road managed by Service public de Wallonie, or a private track. In a French-speaking commune such as Charleroi, local reporting will normally run through the Ville de Charleroi or its French-language citizen channels, while federal road-code material is available from SPF Mobilite et Transports in French and Dutch.