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Old news
Friday, 26 January 2023
In 2023, the north portal of the Coen Tunnel was the most dangerous section of motorway in the Netherlands. Between hectometre markers 30.0 and 30.9 of the western (anti-clockwise around Amsterdam) section of the A10, there were 72 accidents. There has only been one other year in which more collisions were recorded on a single kilometre of motorway. That lone spike was in 2013. Back then, there were 82 accidents on the same section of motorway. The western shaft of the Coen Tunnel was being overhauled that year, so southbound traffic had to use narrowed lanes through the eastern shaft of the tunnel.
On 11 May 2023, Bergnet is on hand to deal with an engine block on the carriageway at hectometre marker 11.6 on the A9 (photo credit: Road Inspector Christiaan)
The list of the ten sections of motorway with the greatest number of accidents included a striking newcomer: the fly-over on the A9, heading towards the A2 to Utrecht, part of the Knooppunt Holendrecht interchange (A9 Right 11.0 - 11.9). The road bears left here, on two overpasses that come together at hectometre marker 11.8. In previous years this section of motorway was inconspicuously average, with five to ten collisions per year. In October and November of last year, however, there were ten collisions per month, nearly all of them at the point where the two carriageways from the A9 merge.
Most dangerous 1km sections of road in 2023
| Rank 2023 | Rank 2022 | Road | Carriageway | Hectometre | Accidents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (1) | A10 | Li | 30,0 - 30,9 | 74 |
| 2 | (2) | A4 | Re | 33,0 - 33,9 | 54 |
| 3 | (11) | A4 | Li | 74,0 - 74,9 | 45 |
| 4 | (19) | A2 | Li | 36,0 - 36,9 | 44 |
| 5 | (34) | A20 | Li | 34,0 - 34,9 | 43 |
| 6 | (3) | A10 | Re | 14,0 - 14,9 | 43 |
| 7 | (5) | A4 | Li | 44,0 - 44,9 | 41 |
| 8 | (198) | A9 | Re | 11,0 - 11,9 | 41 |
| 9 | (9) | A16 | Li | 20,0 - 20,9 | 40 |
| 10 | (48) | A12 | Li | 28,0 - 28,9 | 39 |
It's not a question of the standard of the road surface, believes Edwin de Groot of IM recovery operator Bergnet. That's in prime condition. He attributes the rise in the number of incidents to the increase in traffic density. The traffic found here has come from Gaasperdammerweg. This section of motorway was widened in 2020, from three to five lanes per carriageway. Not least because of the Covid precautions, in 2020 - 2022, there was a time lag before road users discovered new acres of freshly-laid asphalt. However, in 2023 the new road link was running at full speed. In the sharp bend for traffic heading for Utrecht, that could only mean one thing: damage.
Most dangerous 5km sections of road in 2023
| Rank 2023 | Rank 2022 | Road | Carriageway | Hectometre | Accidents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (1) | A4 | Li | 70 - 75 | 128 |
| 2 | (3) | A20 | Li | 30 - 35 | 120 |
| 3 | (4) | A16 | Li | 20 - 25 | 116 |
| 4 | (2) | A16 | Li | 15 - 20 | 115 |
| 5 | (15) | A1 | Li | 50 - 55 | 112 |
| 6 | (60) | A10 | Re | 25 - 30 | 111 |
| 7 | (10) | A10 | Re | 15 - 20 | 108 |
| 8 | (8) | A4 | Re | 30 - 35 | 99 |
| 9 | (12) | A15 | Li | 45 - 50 | 96 |
| 10 | (14) | A4 | Re | 70 - 75 | 94 |
On longer sections of motorway too, there was little change. The top four places, like last year, were occupied by motorways that form part of the Rotterdam ring road: the eastern carriageway of the A4, through the Benelux Tunnel, the southern carriageway of the A20 at Crooswijk, and no less than ten kilometres of the A16 between the Brienenoordbrug and Terbregseplein. There was one surprising newcomer: the A10, between the Jan van Galenstraat and the Coen Tunnel in Amsterdam. There were more accidents here than ever before.