Crashed into trailer

Driver (89) caused hair-raising scenes

The accident occurred at the southern end of the Europabrücke bridge (symbolic image).(Bild: Christof Birbaumer / Kronenzeitung)

It was lucky that nothing more happened: an 89-year-old driver caused a dangerous accident on the Brenner highway (Tyrol) near the Europabrücke bridge on Saturday. In the end, he had a stroke of luck.

At around 11.40 a.m., the 89-year-old local was driving his car southbound on the A13 in the third lane. For reasons as yet unknown, he lost control of his vehicle at the end of the Europabrücke bridge, shortly before the lane narrowed due to the roadworks there, and touched the crash barrier.

Still accelerating after colliding with the crash barrier
The pensioner then accelerated his car further and further and hit the trailer of a semi-trailer truck driven by a 39-year-old Czech who was in the first lane.

Crashed into the concrete crash barrier
The Austrian's car then bounced off the trailer and finally hit the left-hand concrete crash barrier, where it came to a standstill. The 89-year-old was slightly injured in the accident and had to be taken to Innsbruck Hospital by the ambulance service. The Czech remained uninjured.

Local detour possible
Traffic had to be stopped for around 20 minutes for the duration of the clean-up work, but could be diverted via the Europabrücken parking lot. The 89-year-old's car was totaled, the semi-trailer was only slightly damaged.

The Schönberg fire department with one vehicle and five crew members, the Asfinag road service, the ambulance service and the highway police were deployed.