Traffic: All of Germany is on vacation: ADAC warns of the “worst traffic jam weekend of the season”

While the second wave of travel is imminent from Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland and the school holidays have now also started in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, schools will soon start again in North Rhine-Westphalia. The latter also applies to some extent to Scandinavia. This means that many people are expected to travel by car in the next few days, which should make the roads in Germany and abroad extremely crowded on this last weekend in July.

The ADAC expects an excessive amount of traffic jams. “Some sections of the holiday motorways will only move at a walking pace, and in both directions. The return traffic should now be even stronger than the arrival traffic,” says the automobile club.

It should even be “one of the worst traffic jam weekends of the season”. Because the German autobahns are becoming more crowded than ever. Therefore, drivers should bring “a lot of patience”. The volume of traffic will therefore be particularly high on Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons.

Due to the heavy traffic, the ADAC is preparing for significantly more car breakdowns and is increasing capacities at short notice. The partner network will be temporarily expanded so that, in addition to the ADAC towing vehicles, vehicles from other operators will also be on the road on behalf of the club.

Because on numerous routes in the country, drivers have to expect traffic jams. There should be a lot going on on the A1, A3, A5, A7, A8 and A9 motorways and on the trunk roads to the North Sea and Baltic Sea. More traffic is also expected in Germany’s neighboring countries. “On the Tauern, Fernpass, Inntal, Brenner and Gotthard routes as well as on trunk roads to and from the Italian, French and Croatian coasts, traffic is likely to come to a standstill in sections,” warns the ADAC. Accordingly, waiting times of around one hour would have to be expected at the borders of neighboring European countries. If you are going to Slovenia, Croatia, Greece or Turkey, you should plan a lot more time. According to the automobile club, driving on the trunk roads to and from Scandinavia will also take significantly more time.

While it is not advisable to exit the motorway in traffic jams during rush hour, as the alternative routes are also heavily used in this case, you should continue driving off the motorway if there is a high volume of traffic in tourist traffic or in the event of an accident. If there is a complete closure, it is advisable to drive off before the traffic jam, if possible, in order to avoid waiting in the traffic jam for hours.

Here you should avoid the full closure as far as possible, so as not to encounter heavy traffic on the detours. However, it is best not to travel by car at all on the upcoming weekend. Drivers who can alternatively postpone their trip by a few days and do not want to be stuck in traffic should do so between next Tuesday and Thursday, for example.