North Rhine-Westphalia: ADAC: risk of accidents due to incorrect parking of trucks at rest stops

Several tens of thousands of parking spaces for trucks are currently missing in Germany.

North Rhine-Westphalia: ADAC: risk of accidents due to incorrect parking of trucks at rest stops

Several tens of thousands of parking spaces for trucks are currently missing in Germany. This sometimes leads to life-threatening situations. The ADAC has now taken a closer look at the situation in NRW.

Cologne (dpa / lnw) - According to an analysis by the ADAC, there are catastrophic conditions at many rest areas on the motorways in NRW due to incorrectly parked trucks. In some cases, high-risk situations arise, the car club said on Tuesday in Cologne. For example, when trucks are parked in the entrance and exit areas of the facilities or on the hard shoulder of the motorway. Trucks that are not parked in parking spaces such as car or mobile home parking spaces that have not been released for them also repeatedly lead to displeasure among motorists.

"Everywhere rest areas are congested," criticized Roman Suthold, traffic expert of the ADAC in NRW. But when trucks are parked at entrances and exits, there are always terrible accidents. "Why do some drivers do that anyway? This is often due to pure desperation because they simply couldn't find a parking space," says Suthold. The search for a parking space to comply with prescribed rest periods puts pressure on drivers.

"The parking spaces are not enough at the back and front, even though the problem has been known for decades and is getting worse," complained the ADAC traffic expert. The testers could not have examined two systems that were to be checked because there was no parking space for them.

At 13 of 18 rest areas examined in NRW on the A1, A2, A3, A4, A45 and A61, the ADAC found serious parking violations. At the "Hasbacherhöhe" facility near Bergneustadt on the A4, for example, up to four trucks were parked at the same time in the entrance and exit or on the hard shoulder of the autobahn. There were up to three on the A3 at the rest areas “Ohligser Heide West” near Hilden, “Siegburg West” and “Logebachtal West” in the Siebengebirge.

At 16 facilities, vehicles were parked in areas that were not approved for them or were absolutely forbidden to stop, as the car club further reported. The inspectors observed more than 30 violations at the same time at the rest areas "Lichtendorf Nord" near Schwerte, "Rhynern Süd" near Hamm and "Frechen Süd".

Suthold demanded that illegal parking in the entrances and exits of rest areas and on hard shoulders must be more closely controlled and punished. The police need more staff for this. In addition, the ADAC called on politicians to expand and build new truck parking spaces more quickly.

According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, there were around 70,800 truck parking spaces on and near the motorways in 2018. The federal government will provide 90 million euros in the coming years to create additional truck parking spaces within a three-kilometer radius of motorway junctions.

"Unfortunately, that's little more than a drop in the ocean," complained Suthold. According to a study by the Federal Highway Research Institute from 2018, there are more than 23,000 truck parking spaces along the autobahns in Germany, 3800 of them in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal (BGL) assumes even higher numbers.

Sufficient parking spaces with adequate infrastructure such as sanitary facilities are also important from the point of view of the association in order to make the long-distance driver job more attractive again and to close the big gap there. There are various plans to remedy the situation. For example, company premises that are not used at night should be expanded accordingly. Apps should also make it easier for truck drivers to find a free parking space.