AUSTRIA – additional driving restrictions

In connection with the recent amendment to the Road Traffic Act, the following traffic restrictions on certain roads are introduced in 2019:

§ 1. A driving ban on heavy goods vehicles or articulated vehicles with a maximum authorised mass of more than 7.5 t and lorries with trailers, in which the combined total weight of both vehicles exceeds 7.5 t, applies:
1. on April 19 from 16:00 to 22:00, April 20 from 11:00 to 15:00 and April 25 from 11:00 to 22:00 on the A12 motorway in the Inn Valley and the A13 motorway through the Brenner Pass for HGVs bound for destinations in Italy or another country that has to be reached via Italy;
2. all Saturdays from July 6 to August 31 from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm, if the destination is located in Italy or in a country which has to be reached via Italy and on April 19 and October 3 from 0:00 to 22:00, and all Saturdays from July 6 to August 31. Between 7:00 and 15:00, if the destination is located in Germany or has to be reached via Germany, on the A12 motorway in the Inn valley and on the A13 motorway through the Brenner Pass.
3. all Saturdays from July 6 until 31 August, from 8:00 to 15:00, outside the built-up areas in both directions on:
a) Loferer Straße B 178 from Lofer to Wörgl;
b) Ennstalstraße B320, starting from k.p. 4, 500;
c) Seefelder Straße B 177 throughout the area;
d) Fernpass B 179 from Nassereith to Biberwier;
e) Achensee Straße B 181 throughout the area;
4. All Saturdays from June 29 until August 31 from 8:00 to 15:00 on the A 4 motorway from the Schwechat junction to the border at Nickelsdorf in both directions, with the exception of lorries arriving at their destinations in or leaving from Neusiedl am See, Eisenstadt, Eisenstadt, Rust, Mattersburg, Bruck an der Leitha, Gänserndorf and Korneuburg
§ 2. (1) The following are excluded from the traffic bans mentioned in § 1 points 1, 2, 3 and 4:
1. Journeys for the exclusive purpose of transporting livestock for slaughter or livestock, postal and periodic mail, delivery of beverages to tourist destinations, petrol station supplies, catering establishments and events or for repairs of refrigeration systems, towing services, road assistance, assistance in the event of disasters, medical care, road maintenance services, road or railway construction, public safety vehicles, fire brigades, garbage collection, waste disposal, operation of sewage treatment plants or vehicles of regular public transport, as well as vehicles carrying specialists providing lighting services (§ 2 section 1 of 42 KFG 1967), journeys in accordance with § 42 art. 3a of the Road Traffic Act, urgent deliveries involving trucks, or tractors with semi-trailers belonging to the Austrian army or foreign troops, on the basis of regulations, Act No. 57/2001, and transports of recognized aid organizations;
2. Deliveries to and from airports or military airports used for civil aviation purposes;
3. Deliveries carried out by means of combined road-rail transport from the sender to the nearest railway station with appropriate technical facilities or from the nearest unloading station with appropriate technical facilities to the recipient and back to the next unloading station, provided that a properly completed transport document can be presented (CIM contract) / UIRR) confirming that the given vehicle or its body (swap bodies, containers) are transported or have been transported by rail; the same principle applies in the case of combined road and river transport;
4. Deliveries to destinations in Italy or those that have to be reached via Italy, if they are transported along the A 12 motorway or the A 13 motorway during the periods mentioned in § 1 pts. 1 or 2, and if it can be documented that the vehicle is exempt from driving restrictions that are in force in Italy;
5. deliveries to destinations in Germany or those that have to be reached via Germany, if they are transported along the A 12 motorway or the A 13 motorway during the periods mentioned in § 1 pts. 2 and, and if it can be documented that they are exempt from driving restrictions that are in force in Germany.
(2) Traffic restrictions, referred to in § 1 pts 3 and 4, do not apply to empty runs until 10 am to the driver’s place of residence , company headquarters, freight terminals, parking lots, the principal location for the parking, garaging or storing of the vehicle or another place from which the driver has the option of returning via public transport or a company car.
§3. Regulations introducing other traffic bans remain unchanged