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Cars and Transportation

100 drivers fined for blocking rescue services

Alexander Pearson
March 8, 2019

Forming a rescue corridor to allow emergency services through can save lives. Scores of drivers on a German autobahn could now be counting the cost of failing to understand the concept.

https://p.dw.com/p/3EfUv
A rescue corridor on the German autobahn
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Steffen

German police are demanding €23,000 ($25,800) in penalties from more than 100 drivers after they failed to form a corridor for rescue services to respond to a severe highway crash.

Police said the drivers blocked a 5 kilometer (3.1 miles) passage of Autobahn 5 between the southwestern cities of Karlsruhe and Heidelberg on Thursday afternoon.

The crash occurred after a truck drove too fast and rear-ended another truck shortly before 2 p.m. local time (1300 UTC).

Read moreGermans at loggerheads over autobahn speed limits

The driver who caused the crash was severely injured and had to be freed from his vehicle by firefighters. A rescue helicopter then transported him to a nearby hospital.

The resulting traffic jam measured 20 kilometers long while rescue services attended to the injured.

Police said the crash resulted in some €50,000 worth of damage.

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