Snow - Winter weather causes accidents and traffic restrictions
The winter weather with snow and icy conditions caused traffic restrictions in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland at the start of the new week. The police headquarters recorded various accidents, although in most cases the damage was minor.
The situation on the roads
There was a particularly high number of accidents in the Mainz police headquarters area: between Monday afternoon and Monday afternoon, over 50 traffic accidents were recorded, according to the police. Two people reportedly suffered minor injuries. "The city of Mainz was affected, as were freeways, country roads and rural areas in Rheinhessen, Hunsrück and the Donnersberg district," it continued. Accidents had led to road closures. The towing services were so busy that some accident sites could not be cleared.
Towards the evening, the German Weather Service (DWD) warned of the risk of black ice due to rain. There could be freezing rain, especially in the south, it said. The Mainz police therefore recommended avoiding unnecessary journeys.
There had been around 25 accidents in the West Palatinate by early afternoon. Most of them were minor, said a police spokesman. In the area of the Trier police headquarters, there was a weather-related road closure in the area of Hermeskeil in the Hochwald, otherwise there were isolated accidents. In Idar-Oberstein on Wednesday, a 24-year-old man drove his car onto the oncoming lane on a snow-covered road and collided head-on with the car of an 81-year-old man. Both suffered minor injuries. In Saarland, the police recorded 25 snow-related incidents by the afternoon: These included stuck vehicles and minor accidents, according to a spokesperson.
Public transport and road and traffic service strikes
The winter weather caused cancellations and disruptions to bus services in many places, for example in the Rhine-Lahn district, the Westerwald district and Neuwied. Saarbahn buses were temporarily unable to travel to a number of high-altitude locations, as the company announced. In the districts of Mainz-Bingen and in the city and district of Bad Kreuznach, KRN bus services were completely suspended on Monday, according to the Mainz-Bingen district administration. School transport was also completely canceled in the afternoon - some buses were already on the road with children before the KRN asked them to stop for safety reasons. "The children will remain on the buses until they are picked up by their parents," it said.
Due to a warning strike, an emergency service was deployed by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Mobility Agency (LBM) on Monday. A spokeswoman said that six vehicles per road maintenance depot were on duty at all times, compared to eight normally. An emergency winter road maintenance service was also deployed on federal and state roads in Saarland.
Police statement Mainz Website Saarbahn Weather reports Bus traffic DWD warning report
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Source: www.stern.de
