There were about 1,300 more serious road casualties last year than in 2020. However, the number of road deaths decreased.
It was of course extra quiet on the road in 2020 due to the lockdowns, which led to a decrease in the number of traffic victims. In 2021 it became a bit busier on the road and that is reflected in the accident figures. The number of accidents with damage to the vehicle’s body increased by almost 8 percent in 2021 compared to 2020 to 68,700 incidents. Accidents with more than one injured person saw an increase from 16,540 to 17,842. Only for fatalities is a slight decrease from 496 to 478. According to The Telegraph from accident data for 2021 from Smart Traffic Accident Reporting (STAR), in which the police, government and ANWB work together, among others.
Board member Hans van Maanen of the Traffic Victims Association speaks about political unwillingness to intervene and proposes a number of solutions: “With driving license locks, speed limiters, alcohol interlocks and blocking smartphones at higher speeds, traffic can be made less unsafe.” There are also plans to enforce stricter enforcement against illegal behavior on the road, police announce that the risk of being caught for speeding or using handheld phones will rise this year, as new ways to catch speed demons, such as cameras in ski boxes, are being explored .
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl