Red Traffic Lights in Front of Highway Tunnels Are Often Ignored

Red does not always stop drivers. According to a survey by the Board for Traffic Safety (KFV), drivers often do not notice the traffic lights in front of highway tunnels - or even ignore them. Asfinag now wants to counteract this with posters along highways, advertisements, and social media posts. In the fall, a first evaluation of the information campaign will be conducted, said Asfinag board member Hartwig Hufnagl at a press conference on Monday.

More than 1,000 people were surveyed by the KFV in March 2025 about their driving behavior before and in highway tunnels. The results are "unfortunately not particularly encouraging," says KFV Managing Director Christian Schimanofsky. "On the contrary: they show that this campaign is particularly necessary." Almost one in five has already seen such "red light offenders" on highways. Particularly concerning, according to Schimanofsky, is that seven percent have themselves once driven into a closed tunnel. "These are relatively high numbers when you extrapolate from the sample we conducted to the Austrian population."

Some refer to other road users

With 30 percent, the most frequently mentioned reason is that "other drivers did it before them." Additionally, 26 percent stated that they "did not notice the red light or saw it too late due to distraction." A red light in front of a tunnel signals dangers such as wrong-way drivers, fires, and power outages. Schimanofsky therefore recommends informing oneself about tunnels on the route before starting the journey. When seeing red, the most important thing is to stop immediately instead of pondering the causes for a long time.

Transport Minister Peter Hanke (SPÖ) welcomes the so-called "Traffic Light Awareness" campaign: "I believe that embedding this awareness in people's minds again and again is the most important thing." In view of the upcoming travel wave, it is necessary to show that "this traffic light also applies in tunnel areas," but "without advertising, without awareness-building, it probably won't work."

Accidents in tunnels do occur

Approximately 130 accidents with personal injury are recorded by Asfinag annually in their tunnels. Nevertheless, it is "one of the safest tunnel systems in Europe," assures board member Hufnagl. As part of a construction program from 2025 to 2030 amounting to 11.8 billion euros, 400 million euros will now be invested annually in tunnel safety. For example, the acoustic tunnel monitoring system called AKUT is to be expanded from the current 30 to more than 50 locations. With a new technology developed with Joanneum Research, this system reacts even faster than other safety systems.

(APA/Red)

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