The overtaking ban for trucks will be relaxed. Trucks will be allowed to start overtaking again on motorways where the hard shoulder is used as a rush-hour lane. This was announced by Melanie Schultz van Haegen, minister for infrastructure and the environment.
A total of 19 rush-hour lane sections with three or more lanes are involved. On these sections, the safety risks are small. An overtaking ban would therefore not be necessary.
Not relaxed everywhere
The ban on overtaking will be maintained on three sections. These would be the A9 from Badhoevedorp to Raasdorp and both directions on the A2 between Urmond and Vonderen. The lanes there would be too narrow in some places.
Safety concerns
The relaxation follows shortly after the ANWB found that truck overtaking poses safety problems. Lifting the overtaking ban would improve traffic flow and prevent trucks from forming columns.
Depending on traffic intensity
The overtaking ban was introduced on a large part of Dutch motorways in 2003. It was initially intended to keep traffic moving and actually promote safety, so Transport en Logistiek Nederland advocated making overtaking bans dependent on traffic intensity. With this relaxation, Minister Van Haegen appears to be honouring this request.
Editorial LogistiekProfs
