Traffic jam or detour?
Then it's worth leaving the motorway
Created: 2022-07-27 07:54
By: Marcus Efler
A traffic jam on the Autobahn costs time, nerves and fuel.
That's why it's still sometimes better to get through it than avoid it overland.
Anyone who has ever started their holiday by car on a holiday weekend knows this: First the traffic gets heavier and heavier, the speed drops to 60 km/h or less, and finally the hazard warning lights ahead.
Traffic jam.
Then it can take time.
Walking pace or standstill threaten for a few kilometers, and sometimes unfortunately for hours.
The natural reflex: get off the Autobahn.
In fact, it's rarely worth driving down.
Even if the navigation system offers optimistic alternative routes, it is often the better choice to be patient.
Because if you are already stuck in traffic, the alternative routes overland are also hopelessly overloaded from the next exit.
This is especially true in sparsely populated areas with few roads.
Traffic jams on the travel weekend: Annoying, but not always avoidable.
(symbol image) © picture alliance/dpa |
Karl Josef Hildenbrand
Traffic jam or detour?
Then it's worth leaving the motorway
It therefore only makes sense to leave the planned route early - with a correspondingly large-scale avoidance of the traffic jam, ideally via another motorway or country roads with four lanes.
In the case of a long-lasting complete closure, this is often the only choice.
The official traffic information over the radio should be treated with a little caution.
With these TMC messages (“Traffic Message Channel”) in particular, it sometimes takes several hours to log off a long-awaited traffic jam.
Because the police take care of that, but they often have other things to do than take care of traffic disruptions that have been settled.
Traffic jam or detour?
Real-time data is more reliable than TMC
On the other hand, navigation devices with real-time traffic information, which modern cars with an Internet connection have on board, provide reliable information about the traffic jams and the loss of time on various routes.
Alternatively, you can use Google Maps or the map app on the iPhone on your smartphone – while driving, of course, only if the device is connected to the car via Apple CarPlay, for example.
