Most accidents in 2017 on Brienenoord Bridge at the Feijenoord slip road

Tuesday 30 January 2018
The eastern carriageway of the Van Brienenoord Bridge at the Feijenoord slip road was the most dangerous section of motorway in 2017. Between hectometre markers 21.0 and 22.0 on the left-hand carriageway of the A16 motorway, a total of 48 accidents were recorded. Last year's frontrunner, the northern carriageway of the A12 motorway towards The Hague, at Gouda, finished second this year. An unexpected newcomer in this year's list of dangerous road sections was the A1 motorway between the Palmpol petrol station and the turnoff onto the A30. Last year, this road section saw 42 accidents, almost three times as many as in previous years.

Van Brienenoordbrug bij nacht

Van Brienenoord Bridge at night (photograph: Glenn Nieuwenhuis)

The section of road on the Van Brienenoord Bridge has occupied a top ten position in the list of most dangerous motorway sections in the Netherlands for several years. According to Richard Doorneveld, director of the IM recovery operator active in this area Jan van de Graaf jr., most accidents occur on the parallel carriageway of the bridge. Accidents are caused by the low speed of traffic exiting via a sharply curved slip road. Many drivers underestimate the length of the feeder lane and join the main carriageway before they are at sufficient speed.

Most dangerous 1km road sections in 2017

Rank 2017 Rank 2016 Road Carriageway Hectometre Accidents
1(6)A16left21,0 - 21,948
2(1)A12left27,0 - 27,943
3(2)A20right30,0 - 30,943
4(123)A1right53,0 - 53,942
5(8)A10right11,0 - 11,942
6(29)A20right42,0 - 42,942
7(28)A28left2,0 - 2,940
8(5)A10left30,0 - 30,937
9(11)A8left1,0 - 1,935
10(65)A9left21,0 - 21,935

The situation on the A12 motorway at Gouda improved last year, as compared with 2016. On the two consecutive road sections between hectometre markers 27.0 and 29.0 of the northern carriageway of this road, 71 accidents were recorded; a fall of 27% compared to the previous year. This is probably due to increased use of the parallel route along the A12 motorway, which was opened at the end of 2016. Drivers wishing to travel from Gouda to The Hague are now no longer required to cross the carriageway to Rotterdam, in order to reach the carriageway to The Hague.

Politie-agenten van de afdeling Verkeersongevallenanalyse (

Police officers from the Road Traffic Accident Analysis Department (VOA) and a Rijkswaterstaat roads inspector at an accident on the Van Brienenoord Bridge (photograph: AS Media)

Police officers from the Road Traffic Accident Analysis Department (VOA) and a Rijkswaterstaat roads inspector at an accident on the Van Brienenoord Bridge (photograph: AS Media) Particularly notable was the large number of accidents on the A1 motorway at Barneveld, in the direction of Apeldoorn. This section of road is located just ahead of the turnoff onto the A30. This turnoff is often the scene of stagnating traffic. The resultant traffic jam is so long that the outfeed lane from the A1 is too short to handle all the exiting traffic. Road users are forced to make use of the hard shoulder and that can cause problems for vehicles wishing to feed into the other lanes. This problem arose more often in 2017 than in previous years as a result of the closure of the N805 trunk road, slightly further along. This closure has forced all traffic heading for Barneveld to travel via the A30 motorway, so that the turnoff in question was far busier in 2017 than in previous years.

The start of the A28 at the Uithof in Utrecht, and the end point of the A8 motorway from Zaandam were surprisingly often the scene of road traffic accidents in 2017. For years, these sections of road have been showing a steady rise in the number of accidents. In 2017, both made their way into the top ten of sections of motorway with the largest number of accidents in the country, for the first time.

Most dangerous 5km road sections in 2017

Rank 2017 Rank 2016 Road Carriageway Hectometre Accidents
1(1)A10right10,0 - 14,9114
2(4)A16left20,0 - 24,9111
3(18)A10left20,0 - 24,9108
4(11)A28left0,0 - 4,9104
5(7)A16right20,0 - 24,9101
6(2)A12left25,0 - 29,996
7(9)A20right30,0 - 34,993
8(10)A4right30,0 - 34,990
9(6)A2left110,0 - 114,989
10(3)A16left15,0 - 19,989

The ranking for the number of accidents on road sections with a length of 5 km showed minimal differences compared to the situation last year. The northern carriageway of the A10 motorway at Watergraafsmeer was top scorer for the fifth successive year. The two carriageways of the A16 at the Van Brienenoord Bridge occupied positions two and five.

SIMN - Mauritskade 5 - 2514 HC The Hague - Tel 070 365 76 02 - Fax 070 30 600 52 -