Road users to receive accident warnings through traffic apps

In an experiment to enhance road safety, roadside inspectors of the Rijkswaterstaat will be warning road users of accidents and breakdowns on the highways through navigation- and traffic apps. This trial will take place on highways in and around Flevoland, the Rijkswaterstaat, department of public works, announced on Thursday. "The safety of road users and road inspectors stands paramount at Rijswaterstaat. We continually strive to improve safety. Through navigation systems Rijkswaterstaat can alert road users of road closures in a timely manner." said Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen of Infrastructure and the Environment. The system will work as follows. In the event of an accident or breakdown, inspectors will park their vehicle diagonally across the lane to secure the scene. They will then send the GPS coordinates through the mobile phone network to the so-called Flister-platform, where the information will be turned into traffic information. When road users approach the location, they will receive a warning of a road closure through their navigation system or traffic app. Ten inspectors will be participating in this experiment, which will initially run for three months on parts of the A1, A6, A27, A28 an N50. After three months there will be assessment to see whether this actually contributed to the safety of road users and road inspectors, after which a decision will be made on whether or not to extend the program.