Busy Beyond Compare

Friday, 3 July 2026
The final week of June 2026 (week 26) was the busiest week in the history of incident management in the Netherlands. Between 22 and 28 June, IM recovery operators recovered stranded vehicles from the Dutch motorway network 5,456 times. That was 400 more recoveries than the previous record set in the first week of September 2023 (week 36). It was also more than 50% above normal.

Jip van den Bersselaar of Van Eijck Mobility keeps a cool head while recovering a broken-down vehicle at the A27 Breda-Noord exit during the afternoon of 24 June (L26112511; photo: Road Inspector Robert).

Week 26 was also one of the hottest weeks of the century. As a result, Rijkswaterstaat activated its heat protocol for much of the week. Under normal circumstances, only broken-down vehicles in hazardous locations are removed from the motorway network. During the heat protocol, however, all breakdowns are recovered. Hot weather causes more vehicles to break down than usual, resulting in substantially longer waiting times for roadside assistance. This can leave stranded motorists in difficult situations, increasing the risk of unsafe behaviour. The exceptionally short average response times of IM recovery operators help prevent such situations.

Busiest IM Weeks Since 1998

The peak workload last week was partly offset by the sharp reduction in wasted trips over recent years. In 2023, more than one in five assignments resulted in a wasted trip. Improvements in the operating procedures of the Rijkswaterstaat traffic control centres and the Foundation IMN Landelijk Centraal Meldpunt (LCM) have almost halved that percentage. As a result, there were significantly more genuine recoveries. The number of breakdown recoveries was more than 20% higher than during the busy weeks of 2023. Six of the seven busiest weeks in recent years occurred immediately before the summer holiday period, reflecting the lower traffic volumes typically seen during July and August.

A collision on the A2 near Nederweert during the early morning of 26 June, the hottest day of the year (L26113979). A broken-down vehicle was struck while standing on the hard shoulder. At that time, the heat protocol had not yet come into effect (photo: Road Inspector Marcel).

The busiest day of June 2026 actually occurred a week earlier, on 19 June, when 1,121 IM assignments were issued. That was just below the all-time record of 1,127 assignments, set on 13 June 2025. However, June 2026 now occupies four places in the top ten busiest days ever recorded. A new hourly record was set on 19 June. Between 15:00 and 16:00, the LCM processed 145 reports, one more than the previous record of 144 reports handled between 16:00 and 17:00 on 13 June 2025.

Busiest IM Days Since 1998