It has been known in Beverwijk for years that it is important to pay attention at the intersection of Plesmanweg and Gladiolenlaan. Last week things went terribly wrong: a young girl on a bicycle was hit by a van. Residents react to the accident. “You could wait for this.”
According to a local resident who happened to look out his window, the girl was thrown twelve to fifteen meters away. “That was a really hard blow. It is actually admirable that things went well for so long.”
It is not known how the girl is doing now. She was still in the hospital this weekend, police report. The driver’s license of the driver, a 31-year-old man from the municipality of Laarbeek (North Brabant), has been confiscated.
The danger is that cyclists arrive and think that it is still possible, says a local resident. But the cars are driving dangerously fast towards the intersection, and the speed bumps that are there hardly help. “They just race over that.”
Angry letter
Local resident Almar Schouten sent an email to the municipality two and a half years ago. In it he wrote: “I kindly but urgently request you to urgently implement traffic adjustments here, such as traffic lights. For all I care, I dare to assure you that otherwise very, very serious traffic accidents will happen here.”