New flyer: ’Safety in road tunnels - optimal traffic flow!’
Bern, 28.06.2002 - To coincide with the start of the summer holiday season, the Swiss Federal Roads Authority has released a flyer aimed at optimising road safety and traffic flow in tunnels. In three languages it explains in simple terms what road users can do to keep traffic flowing smoothly, and how they should behave in the event of a traffic jam or a fire inside a tunnel. The flyer will be handed out to drivers of transit vehicles at the country’s main border crossings, and when traffic jams occur on the Gotthard route.
Ever since the accident in the Gotthard road tunnel last October, in which 11 people lost their lives, road users have been driving more slowly through the tunnel and maintaining a greater distance from the vehicle in front of them. Many drivers also slow down again as they approach the site of the accident so they can have a closer look. These changes in behaviour increase the likelihood of traffic jams occurring in the tunnel, and the situation will become even more acute in the next few weeks due to the sharp increase in traffic during the peak holiday period. In an effort to improve traffic flow, the Swiss Federal Roads Authority has released a new flyer called ’Safety in road tunnels - optimal traffic flow!’.
This handout contains tips for drivers on how to behave when approaching and driving through tunnels:
- Before changing lanes: use up all available space, and only change lanes immediately before they merge (= zipper system)
- When inside the tunnel, maintain the prescribed distance from the vehicle in front: heavy goods vehicles, 150 metres; cars, normal distance (at 80 km/h = 50 metres)
- Drive constantly at the indicated speed
- In the event of a traffic jam in a tunnel: pull over to the side, switch off engine, stay in vehicle
- In the event of a fire in a tunnel: pull over to the side, switch off engine, leave the vehicle immediately and get away from the site of the incident as quickly as possible.
The flyer will be handed out by customs officers to drivers who buy motorway stickers (’vignettes’) at the main border crossings, and by the traffic police of the canton of Uri when traffic jams occur on the Gotthard route.
Publisher
Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications
https://www.uvek.admin.ch/uvek/en/home.html
