70km jam on Germany’s A2 motorway blamed on parking shortages and communication issues

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Snow has continued to cause severe traffic disruption in Germany and elsewhere in Northern Europe. This is particularly true of a stretch of road on the A2 near Bielefeld, where a 70km traffic jam amassed this morning after 340 truckers broke an HGV ban.

According to reports in berliner-kurier.de, 340 trucks violated yesterday’s ban and ended up being grounded due to the heavy snow. Fortunately, the emergency services where on hand to provide warm blankets and hot drinks for those who required them.

The HGV ban was eventually lifted at 10pm, which reportedly made the situation worse – by the early hours the traffic jam had grown to 70km long. However, it is said that the damage had already been done as a result of the truckers who broke the ban getting stuck.

In the opinion of  Martin Bulheller, a spokesperson for Federal Association of Freight Transport, Logistics and Waste Management, many drivers broke the ban due to communication issues.

He argued that some Ukrainian, Belarusian and Kazakh drivers cannot often not read signs in Latin script, let alone understand German traffic announcements. Moreover, he stressed that 40% of trucks on Germany’s roads come from abroad.

However, Bulheller also pointed to a lack of lorry parking as being a significant part of the problem:

Even in normal times there is a shortage of 35,000 to 40,000 truck parking spaces nationwide. The parking areas were overcrowded on a snowy night. „Where should the trucks go?

The queue of trucks near Bielefeld was by no means the only one in Germany this morning. A queue of 40 stranded trucks was spotted on the B40 earlier today, while there was a serious accident on the A1 too.

The dangerous conditions in Germany have also tragically taken the life of one trucker driving on the A4. According to bild.de, the driver suffered fatal injuries after crashing into the back of a traffic jam last night.

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands the A7 was closed to traffic yesterday due to drifting snow, while a jackknifed lorry led to the A50 being closed in both directions.

Finally, a weather warning has been issued in Scotland due to the difficulties expected by incoming heavy snow.


Photo credit: andy.mendyk / Wikimedia Commons (photo for illustrative purposes only)

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