The German police has warned that any accidents caused by snow and ice not removed from the surface of trailers will be the responsibility of the driver and carrier.
In recent days, due to the influx of harsh winter conditions, there have been a number of such accidents reported. For example, on one of the motorways in the Cologne area, two passenger cars collided as a result of snow that slid off the back of a trailer.
In response to those accidents, German police officers are now conducting additional checks to spot trucks with snow on the top their trailers.
Increased checks of this kind were carried out yesterday by officials in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the area of Kerpen, where highways 4 and 61 intersect, many trucks were stopped by patrols.
A statement by the police in Cologne said that 9 truck drivers whose trailers were topped with snow were told they would not be allowed to continue their journey until it was removed.
Gereon Eich, the head of the Cologne Highway Police Police, has thus urged truck drivers to remove ice and snow from the top of their trailers before starting their journey.
Photo Polizei NRW Koln