QUESTION ANSWER‘Why is a wrong-way driver not immediately reported on all radio stations in the Netherlands – as is the case in Germany?’, asks reader Ruud van Dongen in the question & answer section from our car editor.
Auto editor Niek Schenk replies: “There is no legislation for that. Broadcasters are not obliged to do anything, but many radio makers are happy to cooperate in reporting such a wrong-way driver as soon as possible in their broadcast. Although in practice this usually takes a few minutes of valuable time.
A wrong-way driver is usually reported via 112 and that message then arrives at the 112 control room in Driebergen. The reporter is then put in contact with the National Traffic Center of Rijkswaterstaat in Utrecht. Rijkswaterstaat then first tries to verify whether the report is reliable and whether the reported location is correct. The road traffic controller on duty then puts the report into a system that distributes the message to media with traffic information. This not only concerns broadcasters, but also navigation systems with online functions or apps for road users.
It sometimes differs to what extent a radio maker immediately takes action and interrupts the broadcast for a wrong-way driver. And by no means all radio stations employ people day and night who can immediately get to work with such a report.’
Our car editor Niek Schenk answers reader questions every week. Mail your question to [email protected]
You can find more questions and answers in us file.
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