Dangerous Road

Time and again, people lose their lives on this “horror route”

The Spaniards’ Seat Ibiza was cut open to free the driver.(Bild: Manfred Fesl)

A mother (52), daughter (14), and son (11) are still fighting for their lives after a serious crash on the B 148 in Weng. Their father and husband was killed there late Sunday afternoon in a head-on collision. A 57-year-old female driver from Hungary also did not survive. Unfortunately, Altheimer Straße has been known as a “death stretch” for years. 

“We were dispatched, along with two other fire departments, to a traffic accident involving the rescue of people. We knew right away that this was going to be something serious. The report also mentioned that children were involved.” For Commander Bernhard Raschhofer and his colleagues at the Weng Volunteer Fire Department, Sunday afternoon’s horrific accident was not the first on Altheimer Straße.

Overtaking on a blind curve
This time, a 57-year-old Hungarian woman had been passing another vehicle on a blind curve and collided head-on with the car of a Spanish family on vacation. The father (56) and the Hungarian woman died of their injuries at the scene. The Spanish man’s wife, along with their daughter and son, were seriously injured and flown by helicopter to hospitals in Ried/I., Passau, and Salzburg. As of Monday, they were still fighting for their lives.

The father was still alive but succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, the female driver was already dead upon arrival. 

Feuerwehr-Einsatzleiter Bernhard Raschhofer

Five Deaths in 18 Months
“Accidents happen frequently on this stretch of road. As recently as 2025, we had a fatal accident just 300 meters further down the road,” said Raschhofer—the driver had no chance of survival at the time when her Mini collided head-on with a truck. The road is so dangerous that, at one point, there were five fatalities within a span of one and a half years on a three-kilometer stretch, along with dozens of seriously injured people.

A Treacherous Spot
What makes the B 148 between Ort im Innkreis and Simbach am Inn (Germany) so dangerous? “The road is extremely busy and stretches on and on. It can tempt drivers to pass. But anyone who overtakes at this spot must expect an accident. Visibility here is absolutely zero. It’s all the more tragic that a family man had to die here,” said Raschhofer, visibly shaken.

Local residents have even formed a citizens’ group: They argue that the road has never been adapted to the increased traffic—25,000 vehicles per day—since it was built in 1956.