Traffic piled up on Dutch roads even before morning rush hour started on Tuesday morning. By 8:00 a.m. there were 172 traffic jams covering 862 kilometers throughout the Netherlands, according to travelers' association ANWB.
Accidents on the A2, A58, A1, and A28 highways contributed to the pileups on Tuesday morning.
The police arrested a 31-year-old man in Amsterdam on Monday night after a long chase that started in Germany. The man fled from the German police after they checked his car in the town of Dinslaken and found a possible firearm, according to RTL Nieuws.
The man took off at high speed and the German police gave chase. The Dutch police joined the chase when the man crossed the border with the Netherlands. The cops pursued the man over a distance of about 170 kilometers via the A30, the A12 and the A1 highways.
Dutch public works department Rijkswaterstaat is investigating whether there is a connection between three fatal accidents this past week, in which a total of nine people were killed. In all three cases, the cars collided with so-called matrix signs. Rijkswaterstaat will investigate whether these road signs played a role in the cause of the accidents, AD reports.
Two of four men killed in a one-sided accident on the A1 highway on Monday morning, played for football club A.V.V. Columbia in Apeldoorn. The club is "shocked and baffled" by their deaths, A.V.V. Columbia said in a statement on their website.
A burning car crashed on the A1 at the Embrugge exit after a high-speed chase from Naarden early on Monday morning. A woman, believed to be the driver of the car, was arrested, AD reports.
The accident happened after a wild chase on the highway. The Amsterdam police noticed the car, a BMW, because it was speeding and swerving wildly across the road. When the driver spotted the police, the car sped up to 250 kilometers per hour and the police gave chase.
Four people were killed in a one-sided accident on the A1 near Deventer on Monday morning. The highway is currently closed in the direction Hengelo to Apeldoorn, public works department Rijkswaterstaat said on Twitter.
The car crashed into a matrix sign and caught fire, according to NU.nl. Emergency services responded to the scene in large numbers.
The cause of the accident is not yet known. The police are investigating.
Next month Rijkswaterstaat will start widening the A1 highway between Apeldoorn and the Azelo junction near Almelo. The 65 kilometer stretch of highway will be widened almost everywhere. This major job is expected to take 10 years to complete and cost around 400 million euros, NU.nl reports.
The A1 is one of the two main road links from the Randstad to the North and East European hinterland.
A 45-year-old man from Nijkerkerveen caused chaos on the A1 highway near Voorst on Friday. According to the police, he swerved across the lanes, hitting the guardrails on both sides of the highway, and also ran across the busy road. His antics caused a traffic jam, RTL Nieuws reports.
After swerving across all lanes of the highway, the man took an exit to a petrol station. He jumped out his car and ran shouting into the gas station. When the officers arrived at the gas station, they identified the man as a suspect wanted for a theft in Deventer.
By standers escorted an elderly woman in a microcar off the A1 highway near Amsterdam on Monday evening. They took her to a nearby gas station and called the police to take her home, the police said on Twitter.
A microcar is a tiny car with a maximum speed of 45 kilometers per hour. Such vehicles are not allowed on Dutch highways.
The police found the body of a truck driver in his truck on the A1 highway near Deventer. The truck was parked in the emergency lane. The police believe the driver became unwell, pulled over and then died, AD reports.
The trucker was found early on Wednesday morning. The police had to close a lane on the highway to investigate, resulting in a 17 kilometer long traffic jam. The road was open again around 8:00 a.m.
A Tesla Model S in autopilot mode rear-ended a truck on the A1 highway in Bathmen, Overijssel on Tuesday, the owner of the car Blom Opleidingen confirmed to RTV Oost. According to the driver, the accident had nothing to do with the fact that the car was in autopilot. No one was injured, NU.nl reports.
An accident involving a motorcycle and at least three cars closed the A1 highway towards Amsterdam between Naarden-West and Diemen on Thursday morning. Traffic information service VID calls it a "serious accident" and expects it to cause many traffic problems.
By around 6:30 a.m. the traffic jam behind the accident was already 7 kilometers long, according to VID on Twitter. Motorists are advised to detour via Utrecht over the A27, A12 and A2. It is unclear how long the road will be closed.
Two men were arrested on the A1 in Apeldoorn on Tuesday night after the police found four automatic firearms, about 110 kilos of amphetamine and about 160 kilos of hash and hemp hidden among a shipment of flowers in their truck, the police announced.
The truck of flowers, on its way to Germany, was searched around 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday. When checking the cargo area, the police noticed a large box containing what looked like a firearm among the flowers. Closer inspection showed that it was an automatic firearm.
Dutch motorists spent more time in traffic more frequently in 2016, with a 12 percent increase in traffic severity, NOS reports based on figures from the ANWB. Traffic is expected to increase further in the coming years.
According to the broadcaster, the increase in traffic severity - the length of the traffic jam times its duration - has to do with the improving economy. The increase started in 2014, when the economy started picking up after the financial crisis. In 2015 traffic severity increased by 20 percent.
Two suspects in an assault were injured on Sunday morning when they crashed their car into a tree in Baarn while fleeing from the police. Both were taken to hospital under police supervision for treatment, the police said in a statement.
People traveling the A1 to Amsterdam on Monday morning can expect extra traffic. Work on the railway bridge over the highway at Muiderberg will continue until 3:00 p.m. on Monday
A police chase on the A1 during the early hours of Tuesday morning ended in a car catching fire, three suspects arrested and two injured police officers going to the hospital
With more than 900 accidents last year, the Amsterdam ring road A10 is the most dangerous highway in the Netherlands, according to a study done by traffic information service VID.
From Friday, February 5th, 19 routes will have a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour, including parts of the A1, A27, A28 and A58. In May motorists will be allowed to drive 130 kilometers per hour during the evening on the entire A2 route between Amsterdam and Utrecht.
The ice covered roads in the northern parts of the Netherlands caused dozens of car accidents so far.
This morning's rush hour is the busiest of the year with 400 kilometers of slow moving or stationary traffic, reports the ANWB and Traffic Information Service. The traffic jams are mainly caused by collisions, slick roads and fog.
Those celebrating Sinterklaas tonight must remember to take the rush hour traffic into account. The Traffic Information Service warns that the evening rush hour will possibly twice as busy than usual.
On Thursday night on the A1 a truck drove off the road and crashed into a service station near the village of Deurningen, Twente.
Due to anticipated work on the railway there will be no trains running between Almere and Weesp all day.
