In the thick of fog on New Year's Eve and in the early morning there were a number of very serious accidents on highways. In two cases there was a mass collapse of more than a dozen cars. At times the view was said to be just five meters.
- The most serious accident occurred on the A1 towards Osnabrück near Wildeshausen , where 15 cars crashed into each other. As reported by the "Nordwest-Zeitung", two people were killed, six to eight were seriously injured. Apparently people who got out of their accident cars were hit by the following vehicles. Because of the strong fog, the "NWZ" quotes a police spokesman, recording the accident is very difficult. The highway may remain closed until the afternoon.
- The accident on the A3 towards Cologne near Duisburg , where 18 cars were involved in a collision, was similarly difficult. Four people were injured, one of them seriously, the police said in the morning. At the Kaiserberg intersection, the motorway was initially completely blocked in both directions. In the morning the road towards Oberhausen was opened again. In the direction of Cologne, the block should be lifted in the course of the morning.
- Almost simultaneously, the A42 crashed between Bottrop and Oberhausen at night. There two cars hit each other in the fog. Nine people were injured, one of them was seriously injured, according to the fire brigade. They came to hospitals. At the time of the accident, visibility was said to be only about five meters. The A42 was temporarily closed, but was later released again.
- An accident also occurred on the A28 near Westerstede due to extremely poor visibility. According to the police, an 83-year-old driver was traveling at around 20 km / h because of the fog when a car drove from behind at a speed that was probably too high for the weather conditions. A subsequent driver of a motorhome could not avoid it - and collided with the other two accident vehicles.