After several pile-ups near Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg, Autobahn 81 has been reopened. As a spokesman announced on Saturday morning, a change of rain and sun as well as the driving behavior of some drivers led to a total of 17 accidents with 85 vehicles involved on Friday afternoon.
The rain made the road slippery, while the recurring sunshine blinded many drivers. In addition, some drivers were traveling too fast or keeping too little distance, the spokesman said.
36 people were slightly injured in the clashes. In addition to those directly affected, other vehicle occupants who were stuck in the traffic jam, which was sometimes more than 20 kilometers long, were taken by bus to Untergruppenbach and looked after in a hall. According to the spokesman, the cleaning and rescue work lasted until Saturday night. At around 2.30 a.m. the road was fully passable again.
