Know what 'Stau' means
Stau means a traffic jam and can involve long delays. German traffic reports also use terms such as stockender Verkehr and zähfließender Verkehr for slower moving congestion.
Holiday traffic can be intense
Summer weekends, school-holiday changeovers and major public holidays can put heavy pressure on popular north-south Autobahn routes.
Check traffic information before departure
Live navigation, radio traffic reports and motorway information can reveal accidents, closures and queues early enough to choose another route.
Form the Rettungsgasse immediately
Do not wait until an ambulance appears. When traffic comes to a standstill, create the emergency corridor at once and keep it clear.
Autobahn Traffic
Because of Germany's location in central Europe, traffic on the Autobahn is generally quite heavy. In 2004, motorists logged a staggering 218.9 billion kilometers on the Autobahn, averaging almost 50,000 vehicles per day on any given segment. As a result, traffic jams (Stau) occur frequently on the Autobahn, especially on Fridays, Sundays, holidays, and anytime after an accident or during bad weather or construction. Regional traffic reports, with a variety of names including Verkehrsmeldungen, Verkehrsdienst, Verkehrsfunk, and Stauschau, are excellent and are provided on most radio stations. Germany is divided into several traffic reporting regions, "Verkehrsrundfunkbereich" signs along the road indicate the local radio stations carrying the traffic reports for the region you are in. You will need to have a working knowledge of German to understand them, though.
In addition to radio traffic reports, many sections of Autobahn are equipped with traffic monitoring systems and electronic signs (see below) to warn of downstream incidents or congestion and to reduce the speed of traffic as it approaches the jam. On sections without electronic signs, the Autobahn police (Autobahnpolizei) do an excellent job of warning of unexpected jams via portable signs, signs mounted on police cars parked along the shoulder, or on banners draped from overpasses. Traffic information is also available from several other resources including the websites of radio and TV stations, auto clubs, and government agencies, and increasingly through on-board telematics systems.
Typical Autobahn traffic on weekends and holidays
Sometimes the "traffic report" may include information that has nothing to do with traffic such as emergency alerts, police bulletins, etc. Also, if you have a German rental car with a cassette or CD player, don't be surprised if your Falco tape or disc is interrupted by reports of a Stau somewhere - German radio tuners continue to monitor the last - selected radio station even when a tape or CD is being played. Radio stations broadcast a special tone at the start of traffic reports which causes the tuner to switch the audio from the tape or CD to the radio so that you can hear the information. Traffic reports use one of several terms to describe varying levels of congestion: "Stau" usually means a colossal traffic jam where you'll probably get to know the people in the cars around you, "stockender Verkehr" indicates the only slightly more tolerable stacking or slow-and-go type traffic, while "dichter Verkehr" or "zähfliesender Verkehr" denotes the hardly-noteworthy heavy or sluggish but moving traffic.
As a stopgap measure to help improve traffic flow, traffic is now being permitted to use the emergency shoulder as a traffic lane during congested periods along some sections of Autobahn. Lane control signals, signs, or other cars doing so indicate when this is permissible.
Low traffic congestion outside of Langsdorf
Traffic congestion detector
Avoid constant lane switching
Changing lanes repeatedly in a queue rarely saves meaningful time and creates extra conflict points. Choose a lane calmly and maintain safe spacing.
Use the shoulder only when it is opened
Some congested sections temporarily permit driving on the hard shoulder. Enter it only when signs or lane-control signals explicitly allow this.
Keep a fuel reserve in heavy traffic
Long queues can turn a short journey into hours of idling or slow driving. Avoid beginning a busy Autobahn section with an almost empty tank.
City approaches are common bottlenecks
Traffic around Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich can build rapidly at commuter times. Timing your passage can save a substantial delay.