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No driving on Austrian roads from 18 April!

It's holiday time again and many people are taking a short break and hitting the roads to get away. Countries that require a bit of travelling but are not too far away are always popular - like Austria, or just driving through Austria to get to Italy. The southernmost states are particularly popular, including Tyrol.

Following the winter driving bans, which have already had an effect, driving bans have now been imposed on certain roads for the summer months. In the past, motorists have used side roads or more remote villages to avoid major traffic jams on typical holiday routes. In Tyrol, for example, almost 250000 cars were diverted back onto the main roads by the police. During the peak holiday period, the secondary routes were apparently increasingly in demand and local people felt inconvenienced or unable to carry out their activities because of the congestion on the roads.

The aim is to maintain safety in small towns. Of course, the busier the roads, the more vulnerable they are. The aim is to reduce congestion and thus maintain or improve the quality of life for citizens.

Driving bans are already in force from today, 18 April. The areas affected are 'Innsbruck-City' and 'Innsbruck-Country'. However, there is no reason to fear that driving will become impossible in these areas. The ban applies to all Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays up to and including 2 November, but not to the whole day. Driving will not be allowed between 7am and 7pm. However, it is unclear how the situation will develop after 2 November, i.e. whether another winter ban will follow.

In the districts of Imst, Kufstein and Reutte, the same conditions apply as above. The only difference is that the ban will start on 1 May.

Up to now, compliance has been monitored by the local police. Drivers are stopped and directed to the main roads. However, it is no secret that in the long run, this will exceed the capacity of the police and will not fulfil the actual tasks of the police. The aim is to ensure that mobile navigation devices or those permanently installed in cars no longer offer alternative routes, at least not in the municipalities concerned.

Previously, it has been possible to change routes in the event of heavy traffic by asking the navigation system to divert via other towns and villages. This should be avoided as far as possible.

 

 

Source: Pixabay/alpine-4552654_1280