Data prove

Trucks drive too fast on the Tauern highway

Symbolic image

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz, Krone KREATIV)

According to a study by the Chamber of Labor (AK), 93 percent of all trucks on Austria's freeways do not comply with the 80 km/h speed limit. At the counting station in Hallein on the Tauernautobahn (A10), even more drivers disregard the speed limit. 

This means that only five percent of all drivers in Hallein adhere to the speed limit. . "If more than 90 percent of trucks on the highways drive faster than the speed limit, this makes it clear how important more speed checks are. Excessive speed means an increased risk of accidents, more CO2 emissions and also more noise pollution for local residents. We need more checks on trucks on the highways and the abolition of tolerance limits when speed limits are exceeded," demands Katharina Jaschinsky from Verkehrsclub Österreich (VCÖ). 

Around four billion kilometers per year are driven by trucks on Austria's freeways, two thirds of which are driven by trucks with foreign license plates, according to the AK study. A VCÖ analysis based on data from Asfinag shows that the A1 Westautobahn near Liefering is Salzburg's highway section with the most truck traffic. More than 2.6 million trucks were on the road here last year, compared to 2.4 million near Bergheim. More than 2.2 million trucks traveled on the A10 Tauernautobahn near Anif and more than 1.9 million near Hallein.