Värmen ger frist åt lastbilar på Autobahn

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Publicerad 17.51

 

Ökad risk för köer kan det bli på tyska motorvägar när lastbilar tillfälligt får använda vägarna även de närmaste söndagarna. Arkivbild från Nordrhein-Westfalen 2021. Foto: Marius Becker/AP/TT

Heat gives trucks a reprieve on the Autobahn

TT

Published 17.51

There may be an increased risk of queues on German motorways when trucks are temporarily allowed to use the roads on the coming Sundays as well. Archive photo from North Rhine-Westphalia 2021. Photo: Marius Becker/AP/TT

The declining water levels in the Rhine River have had a new consequence in Germany – more trucks on the roads, even on the otherwise peaceful Sundays.

With few exceptions, German motorways have been closed to heavier trucks on Sundays for 70 years.

Deviations from the rule have sometimes been made, including during the corona pandemic, and now the heat and drought in Europe have reopened truck traffic on Sundays and public holidays in some German states.

North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Lower Saxony – some of the states most affected by the low water level of the Rhine – will allow trucks on the motorways every day of the week from now until at least August, reports Tagesschau.

The relief coincides with many Germans returning home from their holidays and the motoring association Adac warns of long queues.