Record number of accidents in November

Friday, 8 December 2023
In November 2023 there were 3,081 accidents on IM roads, the highest figure for a month ever registered by the recovery operators on the primary road network in the Netherlands. Only one other month comes even close to the record set in November 2023: November 2017, with 3,044 accidents. In all other months since the turn of the century, the number of accidents never rose higher than 2,875 (November 2019).

Accident on the A27 near Oosterhout on November 13, 2023 at 7:15 am (photo: Jeroen Stuve)

The wet, sombre month of November can generally be relied upon to provide the highest number of collisions each year. The abundant rainfall was undoubtedly a factor in the record set this year. There was nearly twice as much rain as normal for November. Moreover, in the last few days of the month traffic had to contend with snow. Although, in addition to these incidental factors, the number of accidents in all months of the year has been on the rise for years. Months with more than 2,500 accidents were almost unheard of before 2015. The sole exception to this is December 2010, the coldest and snowiest month of the century.

Months with the highest number of accidents since 2010

The upward trend in the number of collisions on the primary road network was interrupted in 2020 due to the measures imposed following the coronavirus crisis. After a record of 27,421 accidents in 2019, the number of accidents in 2020 was 18,370, a drop of 33%. This rest period didn't last long. In April 2020, the low-water mark of 905 accidents in one month was reached. That figure rose sharply in the months that followed. Now, at the end of 2023 we are back to the level of 2019. But that year's record is unlikely to be beaten in 2023. Yet, if the current trend continues, the rolling total of accidents over the previous 12 months will be higher than ever in February or March 2024.