Drunk driver left scene of Montreux-Vevey accident; 78-year-old woman killed
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A 78-year-old woman died in hospital Saturday night 21 January shortly after an accident at 22:00 on the A9 autoroute between Vevey and Montreux, in the direction of Vileneuve. The lake side of the road was closed to traffic until 07:15 Sunday for the investigation.
The driver of the second car noticed the car ahead of him too late and despite braking hard he rear-ended the car violently, say canton Vaud police. The two cars ended up crosswise on the highway.
The victim, who lived in north Vaud, was driving a gray Toyota wagon, and police are looking for witnesses or anyone with information, in particular drivers who may have passed her car. She was taken to the Chuv university hospitals, where she died.
The man who crashed into her car is 26 years old, Portuguese and his driver’s license was already suspended. He fled the scene of the accident but turned himself in later. His alcohol level was measured at 1.08.
Anyone with information is asked to go to the nearest police station or to phone +41 21 644 4444.
With winter coming on, maintenance work is carried out on the autoroutes, often at night: drivers need to be on the alert for lower speeds, reduced lanes
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A 24-year old construction worker from Basel was killed Wednesday night on the A9 autoroute near the Blécherette exit in the direction of Geneva, shortly before 22:00, when a drunk driver hit him and narrowly missed a second worker. The driver, a 27-year-old Frenchman, is being held by canton Vaud police.
The autoroute on the uphill side, direction Geneva, was closed between Blécherette and Villars-St-Croix from 22:10 to 05:00 Thursday for the investigation.
The workers were in a central lane closed to traffic, marked with cones and flashing lane closed signs, while they carried out maintenance on winter salt distributors. Only the right lane was open, with the speed limited to 80kph. The driver joined the autoroute at Blécherette and immediately attempted to overtake another vehicle, in the closed lane. He hit a police cone and then the workers; one was thrown a dozen metres while the other narrowly escaped, but with bruises, say police.
The driver’s alcohol level was 1.9, nearly four times the legal limit, which is 0.5 per thousand in Switzerland.
The construction crews were provided with psychological counseling during the night.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A blue Porsche and a white Audi, apparently racing each other on the A9 autoroute near Belmont may have caused a pileup of several cars that injured 15 people at about 14:45 Saturday 23 July.
Two of those hurt in the crash, both of them handicapped, are in critical condition in area hospitals. The Belmont-Lutry exit was closed until evening for the investigation, and ambulances, police, firefighters, emergency workers and several tow trucks were involved in the cleanup. A special medical team with a doctor responsible for triage and several nurses, were called to the scene to assist, given the number of injured.
The driver of the Porsche left the scene of the accident but turned himself in early Saturday evening. The two cars apparently began racing near Montreux. Police are asking anyone with useful information about the two cars racing or the accident itself to contact them at +41 21 644 4444, or to go to the nearest police station.
The white Audi crashed violently into the rear end of a van for handicapped people that had four persons, on the strip leading to the Belmont exist. The van skidded across lanes and into the central dividing strip then back and ended up on the slope. A blue VW Polo, trying to avoid the accident, also left the road; it was carrying an adult and three children. The Audi ended its slide 400 metres further along the road, in the emergency lane.
While two police patrol cars were blocking the exit, a woman who was trying to leave the autoroute spun around and ended up in the right lane, causing another collision between two cars travelling normally in the direction of Lausanne. The five people in those cars were injured.
Vaud police say they have lifted 66 licenses for speeding in roadworks area near Lausanne; the lower speed limit also keeps traffic moving more smoothly they say
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Canton Vaud police say they have taken away 66 drivers licenses, 11 a week, since 19 May on the stretch of A9 autoroute between Lausanne and Villeneuve, for speeding.
The speed limit of 80kph is well marked in several areas to protect workers and there are signs saying the section is checked by radar, plus a sign at each end notes how many licenses have been lifted for not obeying the lower than usual limits.
The worst offender was going 140kph, the 9th of June.
In addition, police have handed out 2,591 speeding tickets, out of more than 97,000 cars on the road: 2.65 percent of drivers are speeding in the area.
The lower speed limits have been set to protect road workers.
Police caution that lower speed limits will also be in effect on the Lausanne ring road from 15 July to 15 October, when road works are underway there.
The work on the A9 continues until November; details on the Swiss autoroutes web site.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A 36-year-old Frenchman is in critical condition in hospital following a car accident Friday morning at 08:30 on the Vallorbe-Croix cantonal highway, near the La Cula (RC 251a) crossroad. Vaud police say his car left the road for reasons that are not yet clear; the car hit a bank and ended in trees below the road. Emergency services cut him out of the car and he was taken by helicopter to the hospital.
Valais police identify 224 kph driver on autoroute near Sierre
Police say they have identified the driver of a car that was clocked at 224 kph on the A9 autoroute 9 June, following an investigation. The 21-year-old Valais man who lives in the region will likely face charges brought by the district attorney and he has been reported to the highway department services responsible for driver’s licenses.
He was caught going 224 kph on the A9 autoroute at Granges, going from Sion to Sierre, Thursday 9 June at 21:15, an area where the speed limit soon drops to 100 kph.
212 kph in early hours, plus alcohol over limit makes Switzerland a costly trip for Frenchman
Valais and the A9 autoroute: flat, open stretches, especially late at night when traffic is light, tempt speeders, but radars are at work
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss drivers and visitors over the holidays have been warned by Valais police that radars operating on the A9 motorway nabbed several drivers going at high speeds 8-10 April, and that police are keeping a close eye out for others.
Two drivers were caught in the same stretch, at Veyanaz near Sion Friday, about 15:35. The first was a Fribourg man, age 44, driving a car that was pulling a trailer, clocked at 131 kph, well over the 80 kph limit for vehicles of this type. Seconds later a 22-year-old Vaud driver was caught on camera doing 191 kph in his car, more than 70 kph over the limit.
Early Saturday, 01:15, a 21-year-old Italian driver was caught after being clocked at 195 kph. He had an alcohol level of 0.71; the limit in Switzerland is 0.5.
The licenses of the two younger drivers were immediately confiscated. All three face charges as well as action by highway authorities.
Police then picked up two French men in separate speeding incidents early Sunday on theA9, the same area near Chamoson. between 03:25 and 05:45: the first, a 29-year-old who lives in Switzerland, was caught going 181 kph, and police lifted his driver’s license. The second, age 24, was clocked at 212 kph, but since he lives in France, Swiss police cannot confiscate his license, only ban him from Swiss roads. Both men had alcohol levels over the limit: the first was 0.78 and the second, who lives in France, had a level of 1.28.
A third driver, a 21-year-old woman, was stopped for going 89 kph inside the village of Chermignon-en-bas, where the limit is 50 kph, at 03:25. The village is just below Crans-Montana, where the annual spring Caprices music festival drew crowds over the weekend.
The three Sunday drivers face charges.
Car on fire, Riddes, Switzerland, near autoroute
Sion, Valais (GenevaLunch) - A 38-year-old man who lost control of his car, which crashed into a tree and caught fire, has a good samaritan to thank for getting him out alive and well. The man left the A9 autoroute near Riddes, heading in the direction of Martigny-Lausanne at 07:40 Sunday morning, when he lost control, for reasons not yet known, say Valais police.
He was trapped in the burning car, which was spotted by a driver on the opposite side of the autoroute.
The good samaritan parked his car on the emergency strip of the autoroute, crossed the road and helped the man out of his car, to safety.
Nice drive if everyone goes the same way
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A 72-year-old woman had her driver’s license taken by police after she drove about 4 kilometres the wrong way on the A9 autoroute Sunday evening 28 February, in heavy traffic, near the Bex Nord junction. The woman, apparently in a confused state, hit another car and caused minor damage. Her own car had a flat front right tire. She then continued to drive along the road that heads towards Simplon, but going the other way, towards Lausanne, in the passing lane during heavy Sunday evening traffic.
A1 heading into Lausanne, from Morges, three lanes as a temporary measure, January 2010
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The problem of congested roads in regions where some of Switzerland’s worst traffic jams occur inched closer to a solution Friday, when a commission of the Swiss upper house of Parliament agreed to modify regulations governing how certain national road funds are spent.
The commission had asked for a report on how cantons would help fund projects in congested road areas, such as the stretch of A1 autoroute between Versoix and Geneva, and the A1/A9 roads around Lausanne, which routinely have heavy traffic buildups. The problems are expected to worsen in the next 10 years, with the Lake Geneva region one of the fastest growing in Switzerland.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The roadworks announced several weeks ago for the stretch of A9 autoroute between Vennes, above Lausanne, and Villeneuve to the east of the city, begin Monday 6 July. Traffic will be diverted to makeshift lanes for several months, slowing traffic to 100 kph for much of the stretch. Details, A9 autoroute, Fre
There was less traffic back when this Geneva license plate was issued
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Drivers on the A9 stretch between Lausanne-Vennes and Villeneuve, the main route into the Valais, can expect delays for four months starting 15 June as urgent repairs are made to joints in several places. The road will be reduced to one lane in each direction, starting on the lake side of the road in June and on the other side in August. Two lanes but with slower speeds will be open during peak traffic hours. This stretch of autoroute has long been scheduled for major renovation from 2014-2017 due to general deterioration, and in November 2008 it was briefly closed for emergency repairs.
The new roadworks will further increase travel time in the Lausanne region, with speed limits reduced to 80kph between Morges and Ecublens due to major construction from May to December 2009.
Yvorne, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A nine-year-old died at the scene of an accident Saturday afternoon on the A9 autoroute next to the rest stop near Yvorne. The driver of a van was heading towards Lausanne and moved from the left lane into the right when she was startled by a motorcycle coming back onto the autoroute from the emergency lane, according to Vaud police.
Chexbres, Vaud, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) - The A9 autoroute, down to two lanes between Belmont and Chexbres for the past two days, will have four lanes starting Friday night, cantonal road authorities say.
Chexbres and Belmont, Vaud, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Eight kilometres of traffic jam on the A9 autoroute between Chexbres and Belmont are likely to continue until Friday.
