Everyone who drives on a German autobahn knows them, the divided construction site passages: on the right a narrower but two-lane stretch, to the left of the median on the other side a maximum 2.20 meters wide, single-lane.
Usually this is the faster track.
Trucks and hesitant left-lane blockers drive on the right.
Something like that could cost 20, maybe 30 seconds over two, three or five kilometers.
The other day it cost two hours.
But not on the right double lane, that's where the traffic flowed.
No, on the left, on the supposedly faster lane.
The reason was a banal one: 40 cars further ahead the clutch of one car went on strike. It was a little uphill. A few people started pushing for a moment, but then surrendered when faced with the six kilometers of single-track route. Police from the right. Palaver about the median wood. Police gone. Police back. Yes, the tow truck is coming. It came two hours after the shutdown began. From the front, of course, backing six kilometers.
A good half an hour passed just because of this maneuvering drive, not to mention the difficult threading in front of the reunification of the separate lanes. Where is the car tow hook for the winch hook? Hectic, tedious search in the trashed trunk of the breakdown car. It finally worked. After two hours and ten minutes everyone was allowed to continue. Those who had previously lined up on the right were already 200 kilometers further. And one of us? Try it again 20 kilometers further on the left. Can't go wrong twice in a day, can it?