Red traffic lights before tunnels: traffic safety in great danger!

Red traffic lights before tunnels: traffic safety in great danger!

In a current survey by the Board of Trustees for Road Safety (KFV), there is a worrying image with regard to ignoring red traffic lights before motorway tunnels. Almost every fifth respondent has observed "red light offenders" at least once, and seven percent stated that they had driven into a locked tunnel even at red. This makes it clear that many drivers do not take the importance of the traffic lights in front of tunnel access sufficiently seriously. The main reasons for ignoring the red traffic lights often lie in the imitation of other road users and the inattentiveness of the drivers, as the survey results show. 30 percent of the respondents said they also disregarded red due to the behavior of other drivers. 26 percent reported that the traffic lights not perceived or seen too late.

The ASFINAG, which is responsible for security in the tunnels, plans to take various measures to raise awareness. These include posters, advertisements and social media posts for the “traffic lights” campaign. Transport Minister Peter Hanke (SPÖ) supports the project and emphasizes ASFINAG's responsibility for traffic safety. The first evaluation of the information campaign is planned for autumn 2025.

security measures and investments

ASFINAG records around 130 accidents with personal injury in tunnels every year. In order to counteract this, the company invests around 400 million euros annually in tunnel safety and has put a total of almost six billion euros in the safety of the tunnel systems in recent years. As part of a construction program from 2025 to 2030, investments of 11.8 billion euros are provided. These measures should not only improve the infrastructure, but also implement modern technologies in order to be able to react faster to dangers.

Technical systems in the tunnel are already designed in such a way that they automatically block the access to certain incidents, such as fires or when the ghost drivers detection. The ASFINAG security programs were mainly launched after the devastating fire in the Tauern tunnel in 1999 and include regular renovations, as are currently in the Semmering and Inzersdorf tunnel chain.

accident statistics and traffic safety

statistics on traffic accidents, as provided by destatis, are crucial for the measures in legislation and traffic education. These statistics offer a comprehensive basis for analyzing the accident and the development of effective security strategies. The data on accidents, vehicles involved and the accident are of central importance for the further development of the infrastructure and vehicle technology. Destatis.de To better understand structures of the accident.