Endurance test on roads

Snow down to the valley! Accidents, closures, hanging trucks

Heavy snow Thursday morning on the Brenner highway (left). There was a collision between a car and a truck in Münster.(Bild: Asfinag, zoom.tirol)

Some people are happy about it, others could happily do without it: The latter are probably mainly drivers who have to be on the road in these conditions. In parts of Austria - including Tyrol - the snow was already making itself felt on the roads on Thursday. In some places, there were already road closures and accidents.

A cold front was forecast - and it came: And it brought a good portion of snow with it. Among other things, snow began to fall in Tyrol in the early hours of Thursday morning - and gradually became heavier in many places. This was noticeable on the roads.

Snow-covered roads, closed due to trucks
As webcams show, there was snow on the Arlbergstraße over the pass in the early morning. The B180 Reschenstraße had been closed between the Kajetansbrücke bridge and the Hochfinstermüntz tunnel since the early hours of the morning after at least one lorry got stuck due to the snowy road surface.

The Reschenstraße was closed on Thursday morning between the Kajetansbrücke bridge and the Hochfinstermüntz tunnel.(Bild: Land Tirol (Webcam))

In the meantime, there were also problems on the B161 Pass-Thurn-Straße near Jochberg in the district of Kitzbühel. In the morning, chains were compulsory for heavy vehicles in sections. There were also obstructions on the B178 Loferer Straße between Wörgl and St. Johann due to trucks stuck in the road, reported the ÖAMTC.

Collision between cab and truck
A serious accident occurred in Münster (Kufstein district) this morning in wintry conditions. According to initial information, a cab and a truck collided on the B171 Tiroler Straße. As the police have since explained in response to an inquiry from "Krone", the 62-year-old car driver crossed into the oncoming lane and crashed head-on into the truck. The man and the 27-year-old driver of the truck were taken to hospital with injuries.

Driving snow on the Brenner highway
There was also heavy snowfall on the A13 Brenner highway in the early morning and in the morning. "However, there are currently no problems for car and transit traffic," said the Tyrolean provincial traffic department at around 8.15 a.m. in response to an inquiry from "Krone". The Asfinag snow clearing vehicles had of course been in operation since the morning hours. The situation calmed down towards midday - there were still no incidents worth mentioning, it was reported.

Heavy snow on the Brenner Pass(Bild: Asfinag (Webcam))

Bleak prospects on the A13 Brenner highway.(Bild: Asfinag (Webcam))

Innsbruck also had a white start to the day
Snow fell at low altitudes on Thursday. The Tyrolean capital of Innsbruck was also covered in white. In general, the day started with lots of clouds in the western half of Austria, and snow and sleet became more and more frequent from the west. "The snow line is between 300 and 600 meters above sea level. Further to the east and south-east, the sun will briefly appear away from fog patches before dense clouds prevail here too," said GeoSphere Austria.

In the eastern half of the country, however, only some regional precipitation is expected, while it will often remain dry but cloudy towards the northeast.

Winter tires compulsory since 1 November
In Austria, situational winter tires have been mandatory since November 1 (and then until April 15). This means that in winter road conditions such as snow, slush or ice, winter tires must be fitted to all wheels. For heavy vehicles - trucks and buses - a general winter tire requirement applies during this period.

Just last week, the Tyrolean police carried out nationwide focus checks on the winter tire requirement for heavy vehicles. Compliance with the winter tire requirement was checked on 800 trucks: Only four drivers were in breach. 50 vehicles were not carrying snow chains. Further checks will follow, the police said at the time.