Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Germany Sees Cluster of Holiday Crashes as Probes Target Driver Error and Icy Roads

Police and transport operators attribute the spree to ice plus risky behavior, prompting legal steps, license withdrawals and safety inspections.

Overview

  • Leipzig police say a 26-year-old Audi driver likely drove too fast on a slippery intersection, hit a VW, then a signal mast and a waiting cyclist; he faces investigations for dangerous driving and negligent injury.
  • In Düsseldorf-Holthausen, the late-November Rheinbahn derailment is now assessed as behavior-related rather than technical, with the driver under investigation for negligent bodily harm and his license withdrawn.
  • On the A2 near Gelsenkirchen, officers stopped a 52-year-old whose breath test registered over five per mille; a blood sample was taken, her license was confiscated and a criminal case is underway.
  • In Essen, a reversing car pinned a pedestrian against a structure, leaving her with life-threatening injuries as firefighters freed her and police began a reconstruction of the crash.
  • In Hannover, a tram struck an Audi and dragged it several meters, lightly injuring three in the car, while separate incidents in Delitzsch and Hamm triggered fire-service safeguards for pyrotechnics cargo and an oil spill.