His thoughts occasionally go back to that one day in June, but it doesn’t keep him awake at night. Taxi driver Bram witnessed a fatal accident on the A4 last summer, and was the last to exchange words with the victim.
“I still visit Schiphol and the A4 every week,” says the Rotterdam resident when NH calls him for a look back on the emotional event. “But now I’m more likely to look in my rear-view mirror, especially when there’s a traffic jam. And it’s there regularly.”
The evening rush hour of June 28 has just started when a truck gets stranded near Roelofarendsveen. Due to the breakdown, Rijkswaterstaat is closing a lane, causing a traffic jam. Because the truck has difficulty moving, the traffic jam grows and traffic is backed up around 6:40 PM as far as Hoofddorp.
Things go horribly wrong near the Hoofddorp-Zuid exit. The driver of an ambulance does not see in time that the traffic has come to a standstill and drives full speed into the back of a truck. “I felt the air move,” taxi driver Bram said at the time.
Bram doesn’t hesitate, jumps out of his taxi and runs to the ambulance to provide first aid. When he sees the driver’s bloody face, he immediately calls 911 and asks for the police and ambulance. While they arrive at the scene of the accident, Bram tries to take care of the man. Only then does he notice that the man is still alive. “He said, ‘I’m in pain’.”
“When there is a traffic jam, I still think about it”
When the man threatens to lose consciousness, Bram tries to keep him awake. That works for a while, but as soon as military police arrive on the scene, the victim disappears. While Bram tries to find a heartbeat, the military police advise him to step away from the vehicle. Not only to spare him more traumatic images, but also because of the risk of explosion: fuel is leaking from the wreckage.
Shortly afterwards the victim died on the spot. It was a 77-year-old man from Lisse, the police said. Bram acknowledges that his concerns are insignificant compared to the concerns of the surviving relatives, but he is concerned about what he has seen and experienced. Who is the man who crashed? Does he have family? And if so, does that family want to talk to him? These are questions that constantly run through his head.
Contact with relatives
In an attempt to find answers and peace, he contacts NH and tells his story. With success, because not much later the reactions started pouring in. A handful of people say they know the victim. Ultimately, Bram comes into contact with the family of the Lissen resident, but his relatives indicate that they want to process the loss without interference from outsiders.
Bram understands this, which applies much less to the actions of the police and victim support. “The police said Victim Support would contact me, but that didn’t happen until a month later.” During that month, Bram had already extensively shared his experiences at home and no longer needed professional help. “Luckily I have a lovely wife.”
Bram has now completely put the events behind him emotionally. “It was difficult for me at first, but after contact with the family I was able to find closure. For me it was about the answers to the questions I had. And I got them. He helped a friend, and he found it It’s fun to drive a car. I still think about it sometimes when there’s a traffic jam.”