Bulky pile
A mass collision (also: mass or serial accident ) is a traffic accident (mostly rear-end collision ) in which a large number of vehicles are involved. A series accident or collision is an accident with three or more vehicles involved (e.g. chain-end collision).
causes
Most often, bulk collisions occur on highways . The causes of the pile- ups that occur particularly in fog , blowing snow or rain are usually too high speed and too little safety distance . In fog, in particular, there is a risk that speeds will be underestimated due to the restricted view . Other poor visibility, aquaplaning and blind spots on the road also contribute to pile-ups.
Effects
In a mass accident, the individual vehicles often collide in several places. These many collisions pose a high risk of injury to the occupants. In addition, the cars are often so wedged together that rescue workers cannot always have quick access to the seriously injured.
Large and serious mass accidents occurred in 1990 (with ten deaths and 121 vehicles involved) and in 2003 in the Münchberger Senke on the Federal Motorway 9 .
The largest pile-up in Germany to date, with 259 vehicles involved and numerous injuries, occurred on July 19, 2009 on the Federal Highway 2 between Braunschweig and Peine .
On April 8, 2011, due to a sudden sandstorm, the heaviest pile-up occurred on the A19 near Kavelstorf in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , in which around 80 vehicles were involved.
The large extent of the damage can paralyze important roads for a few days, for example due to very badly damaged asphalt or demolished bridges.
Claims settlement
From an insurance point of view, a lead company has usually been appointed to handle the entire case and regulate the damage payments to those affected and among the companies. This procedure was simplified in 2015: the driver and occupants of participating vehicles can now contact the relevant motor vehicle liability insurer directly in the event of a pile -up . This assumes personal injury and property damage to the driver and occupants as well as damage to the car.
This simplified procedure is used when the number of vehicles is 40 or more. This procedure is also used for 20 to 39 vehicles involved if the course of the damage is difficult to understand. Up to 20 vehicles are usually regulated according to the factual and legal situation.
Precautions
The risk of rear-end collisions can be reduced by:
- Keeping larger distances
- Predictive driving, i.e. not just observing the vehicle in front, but others.
- Immediate activation of the hazard warning lights to warn following road users.
- Practice finding the switch on the hazard warning lights intuitively.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ focus.de: Mass accident causes half a million euros in damage , accessed on January 21, 2012
- ↑ nwzonline.de: Series accident with 13 injured, A1 hours tight , accessed on January 21, 2012
- ↑ Information on the press conference on the subject of caution in the onset of winter and fog - measures to avoid accidents (pdf; 115 kB)
- ↑ 259 cars crash into each other on the A2 on N24 Online from July 20, 2009 (accessed on July 25, 2012)
- ↑ GDV: Insurers are making claims settlement easier. Retrieved November 10, 2015 .