The gritter that overturned on the A59 at the Empel junction on Monday morning slid out of the bend due to black ice. Rijkswaterstaat confirms this to Omroep Brabant. Due to the overturned truck, the connecting road between the A59 and the A2 was closed for hours.
Due to the icy conditions, code orange was in effect throughout almost the entire country until 7 a.m. on Monday morning. The KNMI warned of dangerous slippery roads.
Around three o’clock at night something went wrong at the Empel junction. The gritter drove across the connecting road, skidded around the bend and overturned. The overturning damaged the asphalt and the guardrail. The repair work ensured that the connecting road to the A2 towards Utrecht remained closed until approximately ten o’clock.
“In extreme weather conditions we advise road users not to go on the road,” says a spokesperson for Rijkswaterstaat. “In principle, gritters are always on the road to combat slippery conditions and keep roads passable.”
Yet there are exceptions. For example, gritting on the N33 was stopped last weekend, because drifting snow made it impossible to see any distinction between the road, the verge and even the ditches.
Gritter truck drivers undergo special training to be able to drive safely in winter conditions. There are no specific adjustments for winter weather on the vehicles themselves.
“During spreading, drivers adjust their speed,” said the spokesperson. When spreading it is around 70 kilometers per hour, when plowing snow around 50 kilometers per hour. “Despite the driver driving carefully, the car skidded out of the bend due to black ice and overturned.”
Accidents occurred in several places in the Netherlands on Monday morning due to slippery conditions. For example, the A28 from Zwolle to Assen was closed due to… a jack-knifed truck combination. A crash also occurred on the A6 between Almere-Stad and Almere-Haven parallel lane closed by a jackknifed truck.