There are moments on a highway when the day feels as if it might unfurl like any other — engines rumbling, conversations floating through open windows, and lessons in control taught with calm patience. On February 2, beneath a muted winter sky, that ordinary rhythm along the A20 gently broke when a driving school car became the center of an unsettling pause in the flow of traffic.

The body of a lesson often mirrors life itself: anticipation, guidance, and, sometimes, the abruptness of things that cannot be foreseen. On this Monday afternoon near Schiedam, three vehicles converged in a way no one planned. A driving instructor and two learners found themselves jarred by impact, their day altered and their lesson interrupted. Though their injuries were light, the scene was heavy with the suddenness of what had happened.

In the hum of tires and the clatter of passing cars, there lies an unspoken contract between road users — a pact of presence, of shared responsibility. Yet the driver who caused the collision chose departure over lingering acknowledgment, retreating from the scene and leaving behind questions as much as marks on asphalt. This absence — the quiet retreat of someone who should have stayed — echoed louder than the crash itself.

Another person involved initially drove away too, but found their way back to make contact with authorities, a reminder that responsibility can circle back like a returning road. Police now hold the thread of the investigation, piecing together the movements that followed the crash and seeking the one who sped from it.

Highways are not just concrete strips; they are crossroads of human action and decision. On any stretch of road, there are fleeting moments — the choice to pause, to help, to face what has occurred — that reveal much about who we are as individuals and as a community. On that February afternoon, a driving lesson on the A20 became not just a learning about control behind the wheel, but a reminder that every turn and every choice carries weight.

In quieter days that follow, the hum of traffic will resume, but for the participants of this collision and those who now scan sirens for answers, the memory of that moment will remain — a reflective mark on a common road.

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Sources : NOS (Dutch public broadcaster)