Emergency lanes are criticised once again

Categories
Travel

The so-called “emergency lane” on motorways has been hotly debated recently after serious car accidents have happened in the past days in Lower Austria and Styria. Drivers often do not form corridors so that emergency services can pass. The problem can also be observed on motorways in Salzburg. If there is a traffic jam, some […]

Austrians lack first aid knowledge

Categories
Education

80 percent of all Austrians think they can provide first aid but only every seventh person knows what exactly needs to be done after an accident. This is the result of the “Pisa First Aid” survey, in which drivers are tested on their knowledge about first aid. “Self-assessment outweighs the actual knowledge”, said ÖAMTC director […]

Women safer than men on roads

Categories
Travel

Drink-drivers, speeders and drivers who routinely forget to wear their seatbelt are mostly men, statistics from the Austrian traffic club reveal. According to the research, women in Burgenland (eastern Austria) are much safer on the road than men. Indeed, women are generally three times safer than men on the road. Traffic club (Verkehrsclub Österreich, VCÖ) […]

Vienna road toll on the agenda again

Categories
Politics

The Vienna Greens are risking a coalition-internal conflict by calling for a city toll. Rüdiger Maresch, the leftist party’s traffic spokesman, said such a fee “is unavoidable on the long term”. Maresch underlined the city government’s ambition to slash fine dust levels, the volume of toxic emissions by cars and noise caused by traffic in […]

Friesacher builds budget petrol station in Slovenia

Categories
Business

The head of a cut-price petrol station company has revealed expansion plans. Free Energy Trading (FE) boss Markus Friesacher said today (Weds) his enterprise started constructing a new no-frills service station in Slovenia. It is the first time that FE gets active abroad. The company currently manages 30 low-cost petrol stations across Austria. Customers pay […]

Taxi firms file lawsuit over anti-app sackings

Categories
Business

Two leading taxi companies may be forced to brace for a court case. The Federal Competition Authority (BWB) announced today (Mon) it started checking complaints by two start-up companies against Viennese market leaders 40100 and 31300. The businesses’ drivers face the sack if they use a new kind of smartphone apps. The programmes – provided […]

Austrians doubt first aid skills

Categories
General News

A devastatingly low number of Austrians are familiar with first aid, according to a new poll. Spectra said today (Fri) that only eight per cent of people living in the country feel “very well prepared” in cases of an emergency. Around 16 per cent of Austrians have never sat a course about how to administer […]

Helping passengers may become mandatory

Categories
General News

Tram drivers could soon be obliged to help young mothers, it has been reported. Die Presse reports today (Thurs) that bosses of Viennese public transport provider Wiener Linien are currently holding talks with staff representatives over a possible reform of rules applying to drivers of trams. They do not have to assist women with baby […]

Kids seatbelt initiative planned

Categories
Politics

Lawmakers have presented a new awareness campaign to further increase kids’ safety in cars as the number of unprotected young passengers is in decline. Social Democratic (SPÖ) Traffic Minister Doris Bures announced yesterday (Weds) 5,526 drivers were reprimanded or fined for failing to buckle up children in their vehicles last year, down sharply from 2007 […]

Heatwave hits Austria

Categories
General News

The current week is expected to be the hottest of this year, meteorologists said today (Tues). Experts explained this week’s top daytime temperatures of between 30 and 38 degrees centigrade were likely to make it the hottest week of the whole year. They did not rule out that previous temperature records for August could be […]