Rijkswaterstaat takes the lead

Friday, 1 May 2020
Since 16 March, the vast majority of the recoveries on IM roads have been carried out on the instructions of Rijkswaterstaat. The introduction of restrictions on mobility throughout the country in the third week of March led to a drop in the number of accidents on primary roads of almost 65%, from an average of 600 to just over 200 per week. Recoveries in the aftermath of accidents are carried out on the instructions of insurance companies.

Road inspector Robert secures the site of a breakdown on the A16 at Breda on 26 April 2020

The fall was a mere 50% for the removal of breakdowns from dangerous places on the instructions of the road manager: from over 1,600 to a little more than 800 per week. At the moment, Rijkswaterstaat road inspectors tend to find breakdowns on roads with very little traffic. On such roads, unexpected obstacles often pose a greater danger than on busy roads. A quick removal by the IM recovery operator is the best solution in such conditions. Rijkswaterstaat's active attitude in these situations has allowed IM recovery operators to maintain at least a portion of their volume of work over the past few weeks.

The loss of turnover for recovery operators was greater than these figures suggest. Recovery of a damaged vehicle demands more work than removal of a breakdown, and that means a higher charge. And an accident usually involves recovery of more than one vehicle. In the course of April, the amount of work increased slightly. In the last week of the month, Stichting IMN's National Central Reporting Point received 1,559 reports. That was over 400 more (+31%) than during the low recorded in week 13 (23-29 March).

A road inspector securing the site of a breakdown removal at dusk on a very quiet A58 at Eindhoven on 20 April 2020