Sicherheit in Autobahn- und Strassentunneln - Fonds für ...

Zusammenfassung / Résumé / Riassunto / Abstract 85
Table Z.2:
Significant problems connected with accidents or injuries and recommendations for their solution
Problem area Explanation Recommendation
Accidents not
involving other
road users/
keeping in lane
Stationary
vehicles
ADT/ rear-end
collisions/
maintaining a safe
braking distance
Heavy goods
vehicles
High proportion of accidents that do not
involve other road users in the form of
collisions with the shoulder and
subsequent endangering of following
traffic or oncoming traffic
Hazard to following traffic or oncoming
traffic because of stationary vehicles due
to breakdown/accidents not involving
other road users
Frequent rear-end collisions as a result of
failing to maintain a safe braking
distance, particularly in heavy traffic
Increased risk of personal injuries due to
the high energy potential of heavy goods
vehicles due to their enormous weight
and their transporting combustible goods
Shoulder More frequent accidents with low
shoulder width caused by a tendency to
drive down the middle of the road
• Optical lane guide with marking lights or
reflectors on the shoulder
• Improved orientation with light-coloured
and luminescent tunnel walls
• If no breakdown lane is available:
marking the space with "rumble" strips
• Breakdown bays/breakdown lanes
• Automatic detection of disruptions in
traffic flow and introduction of specific
safety measures such as the reduction of
the posted maximum speed, lane closure
• Repeated information campaigns on the
two-second distance rule outside the
tunnel entrance
• Monitoring safe distances between
vehicles as well as speed by means of
induction loops or video
• Traffic management in order to avoid
traffic jams in the tunnel
• Setting a maximum number of heavy
goods vehicles, reducing where possible,
e.g. regulated traffic flow in single tunnels
• Overtaking prohibited for heavy goods
vehicles in two-lane tunnels
• Specific safety measures for hazardous
goods transportation (e.g. only after
reporting and with escort or only at offpeak
periods)
• Shoulder width that exceeds the current
standard width of 1 m (the retrofitting of a
wider shoulder at the expense of the
roadway is inadvisable however)
It can be stated that optimum safety in road tunnels can only be accomplished by means of a
combination of safety measures at various levels. Among other things, this means appropriate
driving behaviour in tunnels, information about the correct self-rescue behaviour in emergencies,
continuous upgrading of the fire-fighting infrastructure, optimisation of operational and design
elements, the upgrading of vehicle equipment and improvements made to emergency organizations.