Accident on the A 2

Electric car against electric truck: injured driver rescued

After the collision with the truck, all that remained of the electric car was a pile of scrap metal.(Bild: FF Wiener Neudorf)

Two electric vehicles collided on the southern highway near Wiener Neudorf, district of Mödling. The female driver had to be rescued from the wreckage by the emergency services. However, certain safety precautions had to be taken.

On Tuesday evening, an electrically powered SUV crashed into the rear of an electric van near the Wiener Neudorf highway exit. While the truck driver survived the collision unscathed, the driver of the car was seriously injured in the collision.

Increased risk due to electric drive
In order to allow the rescue services access to the accident victim, the firefighters had to open the passenger door of the wreck using hydraulic rescue equipment. Before doing so, however, they had to check whether the high-voltage battery of the electric vehicle had been damaged and whether it had triggered the automatic switch-off of the electric drive.

Safety check of the electric drive before rescuing the accident victim.(Bild: FF Wiener Nerudorf)

Safety devices were working
"Fortunately, the vehicle's safety equipment worked properly, so there was no additional danger to the accident victim or the emergency services during the rescue operation," explained head of operations and fire department commander Walter Wistermayer.

The injured driver was taken out of the car using a spineboard.(Bild: FF Wiener Neudorf)

Accident victim rescued from the wreck
The injured driver was rescued from the badly damaged car using a spineboard. This board is a special rescue board that is used when injuries to the spine of accident victims cannot be ruled out. After the injured had been treated, the wrecked car was removed by the fire department and the damaged but roadworthy electric truck was escorted to the nearest breakdown bay by the emergency services.