A wedding celebration turned into a major traffic disruption in northern Germany after a convoy of cars allegedly occupied all three lanes of the A2 motorway and deliberately slowed vehicles behind them.
Hannover police said the incident happened on Saturday afternoon, October 3, as a wedding convoy travelled along the A2 toward Berlin.
According to the police statement, the group consisted of at least 14 vehicles carrying German and Dutch license plates. The first reports reached authorities at around 3:05 p.m. near the Wunstorf Luthe junction.
Witnesses told police that vehicles from the convoy were driving side by side across the motorway's three lanes, preventing other motorists from passing and deliberately slowing traffic.
Officers from the Garbsen motorway police later located the convoy near the Hannover West motorway interchange.
Police said some of the vehicles were moving extremely slowly across all three lanes with their hazard lights activated, effectively preventing traffic behind them from continuing normally. Officers stopped the convoy on the motorway and recorded the identities of the drivers.
Authorities have now opened an investigation on suspicion of coercion in road traffic.
Police are also appealing for witnesses, particularly motorists who were slowed down or endangered by the convoy. Investigators are interested in video recordings, including dashcam footage, that could help establish exactly what happened.
The unusual incident quickly attracted attention in Germany on Sunday. Searches for "A2" surged on Google, with the topic recording more than 10,000 searches within hours as reports of the motorway disruption spread.
The A2 is one of Germany's major east west motorway routes, connecting the Hannover region with Berlin and carrying significant volumes of passenger and commercial traffic.
No serious injuries were reported in connection with the incident in the initial police statement. The investigation remains ongoing.
