If the connecting road at the Empel junction near Den Bosch, where Sanne and Hebe died in an accident two weeks ago, were to be reconstructed, a crash barrier would be installed. This is the answer by Minister Harbers of Infrastructure and Water Management to parliamentary questions from Groep Van Haga.
The connecting road dates from 2009 and since then, according to the minister, it has not been necessary to install a crash barrier on the left side of the bend. There is no crash barrier over a distance of 200 meters, because according to Rijkswaterstaat there is sufficient space without obstacles. There are also few accidents.
Hebe (10) and her supervisor Sanne (26) were found dead in the water next to the connecting road on October 19, after a search of two days. For an unknown reason, they had driven straight ahead in a place where there is no guard rail, after which the car ended up in the water upside down.
Not dangerous
According to the minister, the connecting arch does not appear as a very dangerous location in the annual analysis ‘Safe over Rijkswegen’. There have been about eight accidents per year in the past four. People have also fallen into the water before.
During the construction of the Empel interchange in 2009, Rijkswaterstaat installed signs that warn of a bend, combined with a recommended speed of 90 kilometers per hour. There are also signs with arrows indicating that a bend is approaching.
There is also enough space next to the road without obstacles. According to the guidelines, this should be 10 meters. This width is based on research, which shows that at a maximum speed of 90 to 100 kilometers per hour, 80 to 90 percent of the cars that have drifted off course do not penetrate further than 10 meters into the verge. Because the distance to the water is 18 to 20 meters, no guide rail was installed during construction.
Extra guardrail
In 2021, Rijkswaterstaat will install an extra crash barrier on the right side of the road. This was done because there was a danger that cars could drive onto the barrier starting further away and be launched. On the left, that danger would not have been so great.
However, if the arch were to be reconstructed now, the crash barrier would be extended, the minister writes. The guidelines have been tightened up since 2009 and where pieces of guardrail are missing over a distance of less than 200 meters, they will be extended from now on. This is not because of the water behind, but to prevent a car from ending up behind the guardrail and colliding with something.
Not possible
According to the minister, it is not possible to adjust the roads everywhere when the guidelines are tightened. This only happens with new construction or major maintenance. Node Empel has not had any major maintenance since 2009.
Finally, Minister Harbers writes that ‘if new information is obtained from the police investigation regarding the role of the road layout, something will of course be done with it’.
Member of Parliament Wybren Van Haga (BVNL) is disappointed in the minister’s wait-and-see answer. “It is unsavory that both Rijkswaterstaat and the Minister of Infrastructure do not immediately install crash barriers,” says Van Haga. He wants to put this point on the agenda again in the budget discussion of Infrastructure. “Everything to save as many lives as possible.”
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