Overview
- The federal Autobahn GmbH has launched a formal review of the Notrufsäulen network to weigh cost savings against road-safety obligations and has not announced any decision to remove or shrink the system.
- Official figures show heavy declines in use since 2015, with reported calls falling from tens of thousands a year to roughly 30,000 annual reports in recent years, which authorities cite as a driver of the review.
- There are about 17,000 yellow emergency pillars on German motorways, typically placed every two kilometres in both directions, and they exist in two hardware variants that connect directly to an emergency call centre.
- The agency cited two main technical reasons for lower pillar use: near-universal mobile-phone access and the growing rollout of eCall, an in-vehicle system that automatically dials emergency number 112 and sends crash data after serious collisions.
- Costs for operating, maintaining and staffing the system were reported at about €8.2 million in 2024 and €4.5 million in 2025, and any change will need to address coverage gaps such as mobile dead zones, non-eCall vehicles and foreign drivers.