Vacation chaos on the A31: Police checked overload from traffic jams!

Vacation chaos on the A31: Police checked overload from traffic jams!

Today, on July 12, 2025, the most beautiful time of the year begins for many families in North Rhine-Westphalia: the summer vacation. The last day of school was on Friday, and that means a greatly increased volume of traffic on the highways, especially on the A31 towards Emden. The traffic is strictly controlled by the Emsland/Grafschaft Bentheim police inspection, whereby special attention is paid to overloaded and incorrectly secured vehicles. A mobile scale is used to ensure that the journey begins safely. The controls also refer to signs of fatigue, alcohol and drug use as well as the correct submission of vehicle and travel documents such as [ndr.de] (https://www.ndr.de/niederensachen/osnabrueck_emsland/Ferienstinn-in-nrw-polpoliert-a--a31-doht-stau, summer ferien-108.html) reported.

The ADAC traffic information warn that additional traffic jams will face in Germany next weekend, and not only in North Rhine-Westphalia, but also in other federal states. The start of the holiday leads to a second wave of travel from Bremen, Hesse, Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate. Let's round off the matter: even many travelers from Northern Europe make their way to the south, which the already full roads are also burdening. It can be expected that Friday afternoon, Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon will be the busiest times - a very typical picture during the main travel times, adac.de.

traffic forecast and traffic jam hotspots

Although the summer holidays in Lower Saxony have already started at the beginning of July, the busy streets are also a result of the countless construction sites that are currently installed on German highways - around 1,200 are currently. These hinder the flow of traffic and contribute to the traffic jams. If you are planning on long trips, you should keep your travel dates flexible and ideally put them on Monday or Tuesday outside of rush hour. If you want to be one of the particularly stressed routes, you should have the A1, A31 and A7 on the radar. These routes are often affected by traffic jams, as [bundesbuero.de] (https://www.verbandsbuero.de/sommerreise-2024-stauprognose-volle-autobahnen-und-die- Besten-Tiebatzt.

• A1: Cologne - Dortmund - Münster - Osnabrück - Bremen - Hamburg
• A31: Bad Bentheim - Emden
• A7: Hamburg - Flensburg and other sections

Since traffic increases significantly, the formation of a rescue alley is recommended even when the traffic stalls in order to make it possible for the emergency services to make it through. Non -adjustments can be punished with fines of up to 320 euros, a fact that the police monitored strictly.

Another sticking point is the announced full closures on some motorway routes. For example, the A5 between Darmstadt and Heidelberg is closed on July 13 from 9 p.m. to 3 p.m. at 5 a.m. Such locks often ensure additional traffic jam events. The traffic situation continues to be complicated by border controls at the German borders, which have been reinforced since May and can lead to longer waiting times at certain transitions.

Overall, the weekend is not a good time for spontaneous trips, especially by car. Anyone who is well prepared and, if necessary, takes up alternative routes, has the best chance of making the travel time pleasant.