Dust consultants on the A10

“We are there when someone needs us”

Florian and Herbert Thaler drove 7000 kilometers on the A10 last year. They help with breakdowns, calm stressed drivers - and enforce the emergency lane.

(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

After taking a breather at the weekend, dust consultant Herbert Thaler and his son Florian still have a lot of work to do on the A10 this year. 

They love riding motorcycles - and have helper syndrome, as Herbert Thaler (59) says with a laugh. His son Florian Thaler (31) confirms this: "We're also in the fire department." They live out their penchant for helping out at the ÖAMTC. Here, the father works in the vehicle fleet and the son as a breakdown driver - and both work as traffic jam advisors on Saturdays on the congested A10.

"Find out about traffic jams beforehand," the traffic jam advisors advise.

(Bild: Tröster Andreas)

The summer vacations are the busiest time here. Even the start was extreme this year: on Whit Saturday, holidaymakers were stuck in traffic jams for up to five hours due to tunnel construction.

Traffic jam advisors snake their way through the traffic jam and help
 The column of metal sheets was 28 kilometers long, and emotions were running high. Traffic jams continued on subsequent weekends.

"We're a bit of psychologists. Talking makes a situation more relaxed," says Herbert Thaler, describing an important part of the work. When the dust consultants roll along between the queues of cars with their eye-catching motorcycles, they are often approached: "When does it go on?" "What does it mean that this light comes on?" Father and son have the answers. For children, they also unpack a small coloring book or toy to make the journey south easier to bear. As vehicle technicians, the traffic jam advisors also get vehicles that have stopped moving again and get them out of the traffic jam zone.

Herbert Thaler explains to a driver why everything has stopped.

(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

"We used to show drivers on maps how to get out of the traffic jam and get to their destination," recalls Herbert Thaler. Today, there are road closures because otherwise places like Golling would be choked by traffic jams. When Thaler Senior started out 30 years ago, traffic jams were "halligalli": drivers had no air conditioning. They played badminton on the road! That has also changed.

However, the congestion consultants still have to explain the background: why there is a block clearance or why the A10 tunnels are being renovated: So that the Tauern Tunnel disaster of 1999 can never happen again.