New Coentunnel Accident Prone

In and around the new Coentunnel in Amsterdam, remarkably many accidents occur. Since the opening of the tunnel on May 13 there have been about 55 collisions in and directly at the tunnel, said the Traffic Information Service (VID) on Thursday. In just over two months, a salvage vehicle had to be led 55 times to the tunnel area. According to the VID, this number is unexpectedly high. In 2010 the A16 at the Terbregseplein was the place with the most collisions with 175 in a year. What the cause of the large number of collisions is, is not sure to the VID. "There is a somewhat chaotic situation especially just after the tunnel which influences also the traffic in the tunnel. Further may the traffic density also play a role, since there is only one tunnel available at this moment," said a spokesman of the VID. According to countings of Rijkswaterstaat during the months of May and June, there have been 36 collisions in and around the new Coentunnel. It is possible that this is a matter of getting used to the new situation, a spokeswoman explains the number of accidents. "We will follow it closely."