Chaos in Kirchweidach: Truck gets stuck under the railway bridge!

Chaos in Kirchweidach: Truck gets stuck under the railway bridge!

This morning at 8:40 a.m. there was a strange incident in Kirchweidach, Altötting district, which shut down state highway 2357 for quite some time. A tractor-trailer from a Passau forwarding company got stuck under a railway bridge. The driver, a 44-year-old Serbian, had ignored a clear indication of the low bridge and tried to drive through. This serious error resulted in the tractor striking the bridge and the semi-trailer was also split open to two thirds and became wedged. Fortunately, the driver was uninjured, but the incident had a significant impact on traffic as the state highway was blocked for almost two hours, the PNP reports.

The Kirchweidach volunteer fire department was quickly on the scene to redirect traffic and clean the road. Recovering the truck took about an hour. The material damage is estimated at a mid-four-digit amount for the tractor and in the low six-figure range for the almost completely demolished semi-trailer. It is not the first time that a vehicle has had problems with the low railway bridges in the region. On April 25, 2024, a truck driver from Altötting caused a similar incident when he also damaged a bridge by violating the height restriction and then got stuck in a depression. The damage was also estimated at the time to be in the mid four-digit range, as Innsalzach24 reports.

Challenges posed by low bridges

This incident also raises the question of how many more times it will have to happen before road safety in such areas is improved. In Hamburg, for example, there was recently collision damage to an S-Bahn bridge, which led to a two-hour blockade. This is the 50th incident of this kind since 2007. Deutsche Bahn is planning to renew the bridge in 2030 to avoid similar incidents. These examples illustrate the recurring problem that continues to challenge vehicle drivers, especially when height restrictions are in question.

To increase safety in such areas, politicians often call for faster redesign of bridges, for example by lowering the streets or increasing the clearance height. This could help prevent damage and dangerous situations for drivers in the future. While discussions about necessary measures continue, residents' hopes for better traffic management and safety in the coming years remain.

Overall, the incident in Kirchweidach is another sad but instructive reminder of how important it is to take warning signs seriously - not just for truck drivers, but for all road users. Because as the saying goes: a good knack for the traffic rules is the be-all and end-all!