World · Europe · 2 hrs ago
Wrong-way driver causes serious crash on A3 near Erlangen
A 54-year-old driver turned around on the A3 near Erlangen in Bavaria on Monday morning to avoid a traffic jam.
The queue had formed after an earlier crash involving a truck and a broken-down car with a trailer, which left seven people injured.
Driving against traffic, the woman hit two cars and a truck carrying a fuel tank trailer, which stopped against the central barrier.
Four people were injured in the later crash, including the woman and the truck driver, who was seriously hurt.
The tank trailer was not damaged, but fuel from the truck's own tank spilled onto the road and into a drain, according to police.
The A3 toward Würzburg was fully closed while emergency crews treated people and cleared the wreckage.
The closure was expected to last until the afternoon, and investigators appointed an expert to establish how the crashes happened.
A 54-year-old driver travelling the wrong way on the A3 caused a serious crash near Erlangen on Monday morning, October 26, 2026.
Police said she turned around on the motorway after encountering a traffic jam caused by an earlier crash.
Her car collided with two cars and a tanker truck, which came to rest against the central barrier.
Eleven people were injured in the two crashes, including the tanker truck’s driver, who was seriously hurt.
The A3 towards Würzburg was fully closed while crews dealt with the crash and cleared the road.
- Who
- A 54-year-old woman driving the wrong way caused the crash. Eleven people were injured in the two crashes.
- What
- Her car collided with two cars and a tanker truck. The truck came to rest against the central barrier.
- When
- Monday morning, October 26, 2026.
- Where
- The A3 between Erlangen-West and Höchstadt-Ost, near Erlangen, Germany.
- Why
- She turned around to avoid waiting in a traffic jam caused by an earlier crash.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
A truck hit a broken-down car and trailer on the hard shoulder near Pommersfelden, injuring seven people.
A police patrol heading to the first crash encountered the wrong-way car near Höchstadt-Ost and swerved to avoid it.
The woman’s car collided with two cars and a tanker truck.
The A3 towards Würzburg was fully closed for rescue and clearance work.
- Driver
- 54-year-old woman
- Road
- A3 between Erlangen-West and Höchstadt-Ost
- First crash
- Around 4:50 a.m. near Pommersfelden
- Injuries
- 11 people across both crashes
- Wrong-way crash
- Two cars and a tanker truck were struck
- Closure
- A3 towards Würzburg fully closed
3 sources
What people are saying
The main thing, of course, was treating the injured.
The vehicles involved in the serious crashes were spread across a stretch of 200 metres of motorway.