Snow, wind and slippery conditions. The mix of winter conditions made the Brabant roads a veritable ice rink on Wednesday. Rush hour for Tijn van den Broek of the ANWB Roadside Assistance. He drives over the road as a rescue (snow) angel to help people stranded in the freezing cold.
Thick snowflakes clatter against the bright yellow tow truck that rumbles along the A2. Tijn sits behind the wheel, hat within reach. He drives his truck along the highway looking for breakdowns. Then he suddenly sees them: three cars on the hard shoulder. “Let’s take a look.”
“I found three cars on the hard shoulder here, I will let you know when I have removed them,” he reports via his telephone. He informs the traffic control center that an accident has occurred and that he is on site. “Or maybe they need a salvage company.”
“What happened?” he asks a woman waiting in the snow on the hard shoulder, right next to her battered car. A little further on there is another car with serious damage. The three cars collided due to the slippery weather: one’s headlight is off, the other’s bumper is in tatters. “I’ll wait here for a while until the recovery company arrives,” says Tijn.
Pressure on the road
“It has become very busy due to the snow and slow traffic,” he says while assessing the damage. Due to the snow and slippery conditions, code orange applies in the province on Wednesday morning. Yet the breakdowns are not too bad at this snow-covered rush hour. “People are lucky in that respect.”
“One can continue on its own, it only has some damage to the body,” says the ANWB employee, back on the phone with the control center. The thick snowflakes are still thundering down. “The other two can no longer continue, I have called a recovery company for that. I am not allowed to take them with me, only the breakdowns.”
Bad luck after a night shift
“As a child I was already crazy about cars and trucks,” says Tijn as he steers the large yellow monster back onto the snowy road. A new report has been received of a car that has broken down. “The car doesn’t start or drive anymore, so we’re going to pick it up,” says the enthusiastic roadside attendant.
In the parking lot of the Elkerliek hospital in Helmond, anesthetist Guy Rouhl looks a bit dismayed. His Opel Corsa, which he has only had for a few months, no longer starts. Just when he wants to go home again after a long night shift.
“I immediately received a fault message, something electronic was going on,” he says while Tijn is busy lifting the car in the snowy parking lot. “It is very annoying, but there are worse things. I immediately called the leasing company and they called in the tow truck.”
Push
Tijn skillfully places his truck in front of the stranded Corsa, swings the cable towards the car and hoists the car onto his truck. “In fact, any car or van can go on the box, even if they don’t start. Then we just hook them up and take them with us,” Tijn grins.
Just fasten the wheels properly and the job is done quite quickly. Once at the dealer, Tijn pushes the car the last bit through the snow. “It is off the road, so it will be fine,” he says. “So, just log out and then the job is over. Fortunately, few people are unlucky today. We like that.”